2009

Music-wise I'm glad 2009 is over. For a couple of creeky months at the end of the year I fell out of love with music for a bit. Hitting one of those spells where nothing I played made any sense and walking round listening to podcasts for most of the time. I was in a rut, caused at least partly by a bunch of sub-standard albums that I'd hoped for better from. Music for a while felt stale and lifeless.

I was dragged out of this rut by the exceptional new Tindersticks album (more on that very soon) and listening to the Velvet Underground. Music is starting to make some sense again.

I don't think that 2009 was a vintage year but there were some records that did more than tread water or cover old ground. These were the records that I kept returning to and the ones that I'll treasure from a pretty bad year for new music...

God Help The Girl 'God Help The Girl'

A superbly crafted pop record. It told a story but more importantly than that, it was great to listen to, revealing a little more each time you played it and introduced the wonderful vocal talents of Catherine Ireton. The closing track spoke to me a lot too and became a real comfort. A truly accessible, imaginative and quite splendidly fun record.

Camera Obscura 'My Maudlin Career'

There are similarites between my first and second choices and that is no coincidence. In a year when so much was dull and worthy, these records had a spark. Tracey-Anne Campbell and Camera Obscura produced their most finely crafted album yet, catchy melodies and tunes with heartfelt, personal lyrics that tugged at the heartstrings. Effortlessly good.

Mark Eitzel 'Klamath'/ 'Live From Copenhagen'

Eitzel's studio album was difficult and took a while to click with me. The mix of acoustics and electronics sometimes hiding great songs but they crystalised eventually and like every Eitzel record this had some stunning songwriting and also some pretty melodies. 'Live From Copenhagen' was not a real album (see my full review) but it was the most powerful live recording I have heard in years, the sound of an amazing songwriter singing his songs.

The Duke and The King 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'

I kept returning to this. Its such a listenable mix of folk and soul, lovely melodies, great songwriting but sounding so modern and unique. I really regret not seeing them play live yet.

Bill Callahan 'Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle'

A major return to form as Bill "gets dark again". Just great songs and moods.

The Mountain Goats 'Life Of The World To Come'

Great idea (each song was named after a bible verse), superbly executed. Some of these songs provoke an awful lot of thinking, deeply personal and beautiful songs from John Darnielle. The piano and vocals pieces were particularly heartbreaking.

Mentions should also be made of records by Hope Sandoval, M Ward, Morrissey (massively under-rated that one), The Twilight Sad and The Duckworth Lewis Method, all of which were really good.

As it stands, 2010 looks like being a quite incredible year. The Tindersticks album is incredible and there are albums to come from The Innocence Mission, Arcade Fire, Low, Radiohead and others. I am personally really looking forward to seeing Tindersticks play abroad for the first time and seeing Pavement play in May.

Lets hope 2010 lives up to expectations...

The Duke & The King 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'

What a lovely little album this is. I say 'little', because it will only take up just over half an hour of your life to listen to it, but it is a beautiful collection of songs and a fresh mix of folk and soul.

'Nothing Gold Can Stay' is the result of a collaboration between Simone Felice from the Felice Brothers and Robert Burke. The songs are acoustic-led, mostly ballads but with soulful vocals carrying a hint of gospel. Whilst the music is light, the subject matter weighs heavy. These are songs of regret, sadness and loss but lifted by the hope that things will get better and a feeling of coming home.

Opener 'If You Ever Get Famous' sounds like a standard. A hushed lullaby urging the listener to remember their roots, it is delicate but catchy. 'The Morning I Get To Hell' is darker altogether but with a soulful, light vocal and a surprising but effective drum-led outro.

One of the standouts is 'Union Street' an acoustic ballad with a rambling lyric recalling childhood memories and hoping for a return to those days ("if I could just get to Union Street/ everything would be alright"). Towards the end of the record, a couple of truly lovely ballads, beautifully sung lighten the mood, 'Summer Morning Rain' in particular is as warm and bright as the summer day it describes. There is a darkness around this album though, that you only catch if you listen to the lyrics. Going off to war is a recurring theme as are death and loss. The lyrics are very direct and the listener sometimes feels that they are intruding on something private. The only time the music hints at this darkness is some guitar distortion on 'Lose Myself'.

When 'One More American Song' ends proceedings on a similar tone to the opening track, you get the urge to play the record again and delve deeper. You feel like you've listened to something extraordinary, yet on another level it is a breezy summer listen. It is an almost unique record, mixing soul and country in a way I've never quite heard before and adding in some hard hitting confessional lyrics.

Brilliant stuff.

9.0

['Nothing Gold Can Stay' is out now on Loose Records. The Duke & The King are playing some UK shows over the next few months]