Cut to the Quick

Back at the beginning of December, I shared 'Takes One to Know One', the first preview track from the debut Olden Yolk LP, due for release on February 23rd - and it appeared to go down rather well with all and sundry (it's here if you'd like to refresh your memory). I actually pre-ordered the album on the strength of that one tune, though another two tracks have been unleashed in the past couple of months that have only served to whet my appetite further. Have a listen and see what you think.

Olden Yolk

I should emphasise that while my recent return to retail may have been unplanned and initiated by financial concerns, I am absolutely loving it. Having spent the past 7 years sat on my arse behind a computer, I'm woefully out of shape, but interacting with people is what I do best, in fact it's arguably the only true skill I have in my armoury. The reason I'm particularly enjoying retail this time round? Simple, I'm not in charge. Since the age of 21, the buck has always seemed to stop with me, or pretty close by me, sometimes in spite of my best efforts to the contrary. Now though, I'm just a hired hand, clocking in, working hard, clocking out and going home. Someone else is paid a lot more than I am to manage labour costs, stock control and all the many other key performance indicators that I stressed about for so many years - I get to concentrate on the really enjoyable bit. Most of the customers are nice, my co-workers are a great bunch and now that the company have invested in a second Christmas CD, things can only get better. A 9 hour shift with just one 45 minute festive compilation on constant repeat is enough to test the resolve of the most benign of temperaments.

Here's another one to watch out for in 2018 - on February 23rd to be precise. That's the release date for Olden Yolk's self titled debut LP on Trouble in Mind Records. The band was put together by Shane Butler and Caity Shaffer as an outlet for songs not used during Butler's day job with Quilt, whose 'Held in Splender' was runner up in my favourite albums of 2014. If the rest of the 'Olden Yolk' is as interesting as 'Takes One to Know One', we'll be in for a treat.

Albums of the Year 2014

And so to the final post of 2014, my favourite albums of the year. It was a devilishly tricky old business ranking them, with positions changing a number of times as I listened and re-listened to the shortlist, though the top five were never in any real doubt. I've featured several of these artists on the blog over the past 12 months (click on the red highlights to check out the original posts and music) and hope to return to a few of those that have yet to grace these pages in the future.

Top 20

1. David Thomas Broughton & Juice - Sliding the Same Way

2. Quilt - Held in Splendor

3. Mazes - Wooden Aquarium

4. Boy and Bear - Harlequin Dream*

5. Jane Weaver - The Silver Globe

6. St Vincent - s/t

7. Robert Plant - Lullaby & the Ceaseless Roar

8. First Aid Kit - Stay Gold

9. Micah P Hinson - MPH and the Nothing

10. Gruff Rhys - American Interior

11. Gogo Penguin - V2

12. Courtney Barnett - A Sea of Split Peas

13. Sun Kil Moon - Benji

14. Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra - Pulsion

15. Real Estate - Atlas

16. Pete Fij & Terry Bickers - Broken Heart Surgery

17. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream

18. Big Blood - Unlikely Mother

19. Karl Hector & the Malcouns - Unstraight Ahead

20. The Soundcarriers - Entropicalia

Favourite Reissues/Compilations etc

African Gems (Various Artists)

Haiti Direct - Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978

Wilco - Alpha Mike Foxtrot

Musi-O-Tunya - Give Love to Your Children

Les Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako

Virgin Front Line - Sounds of Reality

Bob Dylan - Basement Tapes

Captain Beefheart - Sun Zoom Spark

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
William Oneyeabor - Complete

Bunny "Striker" Lee - Full Up

Hailu Mergia - Tche Belew

Bubbling Under...

King Creosote - From Scotland With Love

Temples - Sun Structures

Leonard Cohen - Popular Problems

Toumani Diabaté & Sidiki Diabaté - Toumani & Sidiki

Tinariwen - Emmaar

Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness Of Dancers

Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots

Steve Gunn - Way Out Weather

Sinkane - Mean Love

Damien Jurado - Brothers & Sisters of the Eternal Son

The Furrow Collective - At Our Next Meeting

Ibibio Sound Machine - s/t

Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains - Piano Ombre

Joan as Police Woman - The Classic

Aldous Harding - s/t

Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal

School of Language - Old Fears

Tuneyards - Nikki Nack

Joe Henry - Invisible Hour

Sleaford Mods - Divide and Exit

Eno & Hyde - High Life

Teleman - Breakfast

White Fence - For the Recently Found Innocent

Childhood - Lacuna

Golden Gunn - s/t

The Coral - The Curse of Love

Hookworms - The Hum

Rachael Dadd - We Resonate

Tweedy - Sukierae

It just remains for me to say a big thank you to everyone who stopped by in 2014 and also to all the bloggers out there who I read, listen to and am inspired by every day. A Happy New Year to you and those you love.

Let's do it all again in 2015.

(*Special thanks to Shell Hunter over at Tune Doctor for the Boy & Bear release date info!)

Quilt

Out of Boston (Massachusetts, not Lincolnshire) come, the perfectly named, Quilt, with album number two, 'Held In Splendour', a fine amalgam of folkish psych-pop grooves and lightly sprinkled prog-inspired noodlings.

Quilt recently completed their first European tour and are currently on the road in the States with Woods. They return to our shores in a couple of weeks to support the mighty War on Drugs.