elbow

All posts tagged elbow

AOTY11I have probably purchased more albumsduring 2011 than for some years and, what’s more, it’s been more difficult than I can remember for many years to select a short list of just the ten.  So quite a bounce-back for this, my 49th annual round-up which includes my album of the year 2011 .  Hopefully my fiftieth will be just as interesting next year; if not, I guess I can always do a retrospective!

This year there have been several albums from established artists that one might expect to be a shoe-in to any top ten, but somehow they proved disappointments, not even making it onto the buy list, thereby excluding them from possible selection.  Continue Reading

Well, it’s that time of year again for a review of the music scene and, for the 45th time, to select my Album of the Year 2008.  As far as purchases are concerned, this year has been a real mix of new talent, follow-up albums to good debuts, and the return of classic artists after a long break.

With the accessibility of so-much live music, whether actually attending venues, listening to the likes of Jo Wiley’s Radio One Sessions, catching festival highlights throughout the summer, or simply surfing the web, bands have to be able to really perform, because it is now so very easy to judge their relative abilities through these various channels. Continue Reading