18th November - Belle and Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister

Artist – Album: Belle & Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister

Released: 18^th November 1996

Sounds Like: A good start

Officially Belle & Sebastian’s debut, Tigermilk, was released 5 months earlier, but released seems a far too powerful word to describe that album’s issue: the album was the culmination of Stuart Murdoch’s work on a college music business course and it’s limited pressing of just one thousand copies was his final project, and so the album wasn’t so much released as stealthily snuck out. Luckily, it was just too good to slip the attention of eagle eyed (eared? Do eagles have ears??) music fans though and word spread of a terrific record that was rarer than a tasteful Miley Cyrus video.



By the time of If You’re Feeling Sinister all this goodwill towards the group had translated into a record contract (with the still terribly indie Jeepster Records) and a resolve to, you know, actually be a real band. It also was their first album in general circulation and to be covered by national newspapers, and consequently it was – for all but a privileged few – the first time anybody had heard their songs. They weren’t to be disappointed.



Each track is a triumph of wit and majestic music. ‘Me and the Major’ is a chugging tribute to the differences between generations, the title track sounds warm and comforting but it has a snide humour and candidly deals with suicide in confident manner, whilst ‘Like Dylan in the Movies’ and ‘The Fox in the Snow’ are fey and beautiful. For some time ‘Seeing Other People’ has been my favourite, with its hilarious memories of “Kissing just for practice”.



A backstory like Belle & Sebastian’s might never crop up again. Our world of Spotify and Youtube and Twitter means that it’s unthinkable that its impossible for bands today to earn the aura that the early, mysterious B&S thrived on. Further, few bands have ever released a pair of such perfect albums as Tigermilk and If You’re Feeling Sinister with their first couple of attempts. As Murdoch sums up in ‘Get Me Away from Here, I’m Dying’: “Nobody writes them like they used to so it may as well be me”

Albumaday... rating: 9/10

1.       The Stars of Track and Field – 4:48

2.       Seeing Other People – 3:48

3.       Me and the Major – 3:51

4.       Like Dylan in the Movies – 4:14

5.       The Fox in the Snow – 4:11

6.       Get Me Away from Here, I’m Dying – 3:25

7.       If You’re Feeling Sinister – 5:21

8.       Mayfly – 3:42

9.       The Boy Done Wrong Again – 4:17

10.   Judy and the Dream of Horses – 3:40

Listen to ‘Seeing Other People’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=583_nEvuRvw

Also released on the 18^th November:

1974: Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Also released on the 18^th November:

1997: Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West

4th July - Sufjan Stevens' Illinois

Artist – Album: Sufjan Stevens – Illinois

Released: 4^th July 2005

Sounds Like: Summer camp and Superman 

Sufjan Stevens is clearly a man after my own heart. Following his 2003 release of the gentle indie-folk brilliance of Michigan (titled Sufjan Stevens Presents... Greetings from Michigan, the Great Lake State on the cover), he announced his intention to release an album for each of the 50 U.S. states. It’s a stupid boy project, like Analbumaday…! Wahaaayyyy! Album no. 2 of the assignment – and yes, the only other one he’s done, as he’s since confessed that it was just a gimmick to promote sales – is Illinois, or, as the cover would have it, Sufjan Stevens Invites You To: Come On Feel the Illinoise. 

The album is littered with allusions to very American matters (UFOs, Christianity, highways, summer camp and Superman), state-specific incidents (‘The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders’ is a reference to Robert Wadlow, or the Giant of Illinois, who measured just shy of 9ft and is the tallest man in history, whilst ‘John Wayne Gacy, Jr’ is the frankly chilling bio of one of America’s most notorious serial killers and paedophiles) and deeply personal episodes (such as the delicate retelling of a close friend’s battle with bone cancer on ‘Casimir Pulaski Day’). Aided by lush strings, flutes, banjos, glockenspiels and heavenly backing vocals, he often interweaves this trio of different standpoints into one glorious all-encompassing indie-folk epic, never more so than on the escapist ‘Chicago’.

What a shame that he won’t be bringing us more of these lovingly crafted postcards to his most beloved places. His irreverent humour, lucid prose and ability to mesh touching personal situations with the history and culture of a region bring to mind great modern travel writers such as Bill Bryson. I’ve never been to Illinois, but this exceptional album attaches such warmth and affection to the place that I feel like I grew up there and still think of it with a wry, nostalgic smile every now and again.

Albumaday... rating: 10/10

1.       Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois - 2:08

2.       The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!' - 2:14

3.       Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition – Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream) - 6:45

4.       John Wayne Gacy Jr. - 3:19

5.       Jacksonville - 5:24

6.       A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons - 0:47

7.       Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother! - 3:03

8.       One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' for the Pullman - 0:06

9.       Chicago - 6:04

10.   Casimir Pulaski Day - 5:53

11.   To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament - 1:40

12.   The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts - 6:17

13.   Prairie Fire That Wanders About - 2:11

14.   A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze - 0:19

15.   The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us! - 5:23

16.   They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh! - 5:09

17.   Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell - 0:40

18.   In This Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth - 0:35

19.   The Seer's Tower - 3:53

20.   The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders (Part I: The Great Frontier – Part II: Come to Me Only with Playthings Now) - 7:02

21.   Riffs and Variations on a Single Note for Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, and the King of Swing, to Name a Few - 0:46

22.   Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt from My Sandals as I Run - 4:21

Listen to ‘Come on! Feel the Illinoise!’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaQDYaK34Q4

17th June - Bon Iver's Bon Iver

Artist – Album: Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Released:  17^th June 2011

Sounds Like: Now we are old

My legs are grey. My ears are gnarled. My eyes are old and bent... Increasingly as I get older, and especially as it was just my birthday yesterday, I look at what other people in the world have done and wonder what I’ve done with my life. I mean, granted, I do have a decent job, a nice flat in a great city and a great little rickety old car, and I have seen all of the films in the imdb top 250 movies of all time, but in comparison to some of my peers, that really ain’t all that.

On the other hand, it’s not yet too late to really achieve something special. Back in 2006 Bon Iver founder, singer and chief songwriter Justin Vernon was my age now. His band DeYarmond Edison (now that’s a rubbish name) had just dissolved and, even better, he and his girlfriend also broke up. He probably wasn’t feeling particularly great. He decided to run away to a cabin in Wisconsin, lock himself up and record all his thoughts on his failings, his heartache, his love and his loss. ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’, the result, is now one of the most widely acclaimed records of the 21^st century and one of the all time great breakup albums. So, clearly, that sort of success isn’t quite beyond me yet...

Presumably life picked up a bit for Vernon following that surprise hit, so the next big dilemma must have been what to do next. It’s commendable that he didn’t just try to live off the remembered depression and release ‘For Emma’ #2. Instead, he expanded on their sound and left his little log cabin to explore the wider world (check out the amount of songs with cool place names in the title), bring on a change of sound which reminds me of John Martyn’s One World. It’s like the album artwork itself depicts – the little cabin is now away in the background, colour has been splashed all over and there’s a variety of different pastoral locations on display. ‘Perth’, ‘Towers’ and ‘Holocene’ are the best examples of the extraordinary outcome, dense with atmospheric synths, electric guitars and his beautiful voice. I’m looking forward to bringing out my own similarly awesome album in 5 years time.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       Perth – 4:22

2.       Minnesota, WI – 3:52

3.       Holocene – 5:37

4.       Towers – 3:08

5.       Michicant – 3:45

6.       Hinnom, TX – 2:45

7.       Wash. – 4:59

8.       Calgary – 4:10

9.       Lisbon, OH – 1:33

10.   Beth/Rest – 5:17

Listen to ‘Perth’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo6lKQYVUBU

Also released on the 17^th June:

2003: Drive-By Truckers – Decoration Day

Also released on the 17^th June: 

2008: Tilly and the Wall – O

3rd June - Fleet Foxes' Fleet Foxes

Artist – Album: Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes

Released:  3^rd June 2008

Sounds Like: Getting my kicks with beardy folksters

Yesterday, I joined a few of my old workmates in a beer garden in the glorious sunshine for a nice mid-afternoon pint. Unbeknownst to me, the meeting would lead to one of the most exciting developments of my hitherto benign existence – we’re going to drive along the length of Route 66! To strengthen the conviction that that wasn’t just a drunken pronouncement (which I do rattle out on a weekly basis) we quickly wound up in Trailfinders travel agents, speaking to Chris-the-dude-with-the-unusual-AmeriManc-accent figuring out the logistics and booking dates. Actual dates. Chicago, St Louis, Oklahoma, Albuquerque, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles. Route 66 takes in a plethora of iconic locations and is steeped in American folklore and tradition.

Today’s album, Fleet Foxes’ self titled debut, is also wreathed in glorious Americana, although its focus is away from dust bowl desert and bright light cities and set square on snow capped mountains and dense redwood forests. Majestic paeans such as ‘White Winter Hymnal’ and ‘Meadowlarks’ sound ancient, like they’ve been passed down through generations of inbred hill people. Elsewhere, tracks such as ‘Quiet Houses’ and ‘Heard Them Stirring’ betray the group’s magpie-ing of classic rock and indie influences, whilst still remaining fresh and original.

Rather than concentrating on individual songs though, the real beauty here is in the piece as a whole. Like the album artwork itself, the album is rich, ornate and beguiling, with meticulous detail and something different to catch your eye/ear with each wonderful listen.

Albumaday... rating:  10/10

1.       Sun It Rises – 3:14

2.       White Winter Hymnal – 2:27

3.       Ragged Wood – 5:07

4.       Tiger Mountain Peasant Song – 3:28

5.       Quiet Houses – 3:32

6.       He Doesn’t Know Why – 3:20

7.       Heard Them Stirring – 3:02

8.       Your Protector – 4:09

9.       Meadowlarks – 3:11

10.   Blue Ridge Mountains – 4:25

11.   Oliver James – 3:23

Listen to ‘White Winter Hymnal ’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE

Also released on the 3^rd June:

1977: Bob Marley & the Wailers - Exodus

24th April - Devendra Banhart's Rejoicing In the Hands

Artist – Album:  Devendra Banhart – Rejoicing in the Hands

Released:  24^th April 2006

Sounds Like:  Beardy bloke’s freaky folk

Devendra Banhart is the crown prince of freak folk, the early noughties acoustic movement that glorified weirdy hippidom, lengthy luxurious locks but mostly captivating, pastoral folk. Taking up the model set by Vashti Bunyan, the Incredible String Band and other late sixties/ early seventies alternative performers, a ramshackle collection of artists such as Joanna Newsom, Espers and Banhart created a sub-genre that has bubbled on the periphery of indie for the last decade or so.

This, his second album and the first with any semblance of a budget, is potentially the crowning moment of the scene, a wonderfully rustic and whimsical record centred around Banhart’s hypnotic, faltering vocals and dexterous finger picking style.

Many reviewers picked up on the uplifting opener ‘This Is the Way’, and in particular the closing couplet “well we've known... we've had a choice. We chose rejoice” but this was just the first track of a great half an album, from the enlightened ‘A Sight to Behold’ to the shambling ‘The Body Breaks’, from the naive ‘Will Is My Friend’ to the nonsensical but knowing ‘This Beard Is for Siobhan’. The second half becomes more introspective, aside from the Vashti Bunyan fronted title track, and displays Banhart’s experimental side, with harps, violins, cellos and piano aiding the neatly plucked guitar strings.

Rejoicing in the Hands sounds magical and otherworldly, like it was played many moons ago on some rough acoustic guitar hewed from a giant, ancient oak tree and wielded by a biblical prophet, all wise yet pure. Perhaps not everyone will be taken in by the twee and whimsy and general nonsense, but most will find it a freak-folk treasure.

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       This Is the Way – 2:53

2.       A Sight to Behold – 2:26

3.       The Body Breaks – 2:43

4.       Poughkeepsie – 2:17

5.       Dogs They Make Up in the Dark – 1:20

6.       Will Is My Friend – 3:04

7.       This Beard Is for Siobhán – 2:36

8.       See Saw – 3:22

9.       Tit Smoking in the Temple of Artesan Mimicry – 1:25

10.   Rejoicing in the Hands – 1:41

11.   Fall – 2:53

12.   Todo Los Dolores – 2:30

13.   When the Sun Shone on Vetiver – 3:34

14.   There Was Sun – 1:31

15.   Insect Eyes – 5:08

16.   Autumn’s Child – 2:40

Listen to ‘This Beard Is for Siobhán’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nQSfce3ILQ

Also released on the 24^th April:

1960: Jimmy Smith – Back at the Chicken Shack

7th March - Neko Case's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Artist – Album: Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Released:  7^th March 2006

Sounds Like: Our home and native land

Over the last decade or so, Canadian music has been enjoying something of a renaissance, a growing upsurge in the number of exciting, cool and influential bands taking up the mantle of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young and vastly at odds with the more recent purveyors of the Canuck sound such as Bryan Adams, Celine Dion and Alanis Morrisette. Whereas at the turn of the millennium it was Sum 41 and Avril Lavigne who lived it up C-country style, it was thankfully a different group of groups - Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and Wolf Parade to name a few - who kept the ball rolling, eh.

Neko Case herself isn’t actually from Canada – she hails from Virginia – but she first rose to prominence in the Vancouver based supergroup The New Pornographers, certainly one of the best bands anywhere in the last 20 years. There she teamed up with an indie rock collective (also featuring the previously blogged aboot Destroyer aka Dan Bejar) who harnessed her songwriting skills and beguiling, distinctive vocals to create sparkling indie rock. Solo, the tempo is down and the songs are less hook-laden but her talent for pop craft and maximisation of her brilliant voice remain as good as ever.

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is widely considered to be Case’s finest individual hour. It’s a consistently strong set speckled with a few outstanding gems. ‘Star Witness’ has a shimmering beauty, surprisingly being about witnessing a car crash. ‘John Saw That Number’ sounds ancient and olde worlde.  Worth a listen buddy. (I’m not your buddy, friend. He’s not your friend, guy. I’m not your guy, buddy...)

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.   Margaret vs. Pauline – 2:52

2.       Star Witness – 5:16

3.       Hold On, Hold On – 2:46

4.       A Widow’s Toast – 1:36

5.       That Teenage Feeling – 2:42

6.       Fox Confessor Brings the Flood – 2:42

7.       John Saw That Number – 4:06

8.       Dirty Knife – 3:18

9.       Lion’s Jaws – 2:28

10.     Maybe Sparrow – 2:37

11.     At Last – 1:35

12.     The Needle Has Landed – 3:45

Listen to ‘Star Witness’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi6keFpm-BY

Also released on the 7^th March:

1975: David Bowie – Young Americans

Also released on the 7^th March:

2006: Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Etiquette