IRREGULAR NOTES ON MUSIC

Disappointing year, but plenty of good music. Here are my favourite albums of 2017 - a link to a playlist featuring a track from each one can be found below. 

Aaron Dilloway - The Gag File / Switches: No less than two great warped electronic albums in a year from the Wolf Eyes man.

Agent Blå - Agent Blå: Swedish indie with that irresistible careless urgency that’s missing so often in rock these days.

Arca - Arca: Beautiful, delicate album from the Björk-collaborator.  

Broken English Club - The English Beach: Oh-so-good album influenced by techno, EBM, industrial and minimal wave.

Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun: Heavy and dark - yet another magnificent album from the American singer-songwriter.

Cigarettes After Sex - Cigarettes After Sex: Best alternative newcomer of 2017.

Claire M Singer - Fairge: Slow-burning beautiful deep drones.

Daphni - Joli Mai: Great beat-driven electronic album. Impossible not to move to.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Luciferian Towers: Very happy to report the experimental Canadian music collective still sounds unique.  

Kaukolampi - 1: A brooding synth record from the K-X-P leader.

La Tène - Tardive/Issime: Franco-Swiss trio’s excellent hypnotic drone music created with hurdy-gurdy, electronic harmonium and percussion.

Lana Del Rey - Lust For Life: I was sceptical when I read about the many guests but there was nothing to fear. Personal highlight: 13 Beaches -> Cherry -> White Mustang.

LCD Soundsystem - American Dream: Didn’t think I needed them back, but this was a very pleasant surprise.

Lorde - Melodrama: The best, most consistent pop album of 2017? I think so.

Max Richter - Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works: I have seen this amazing ballet twice at Royal Opera House and Richter’s score also works incredibly well on its own.

Migos - Culture: Having followed them for a number of years, it was great to see how the hip-hop trio finally received a major breakthrough this year.

Nekrasov - The Mirror Void: I was floored by this album’s sound aesthetic where black metal merge with noise. A great extreme discovery.

Ryuichi Sakamoto - async: Exceptional album from the Japanese artist, back after a hiatus caused by cancer treatment. A real triumph.

Sort Sol - Stor Langsom Stjerne: 16 years on from their last studio album, the Danish ex-punks returned with an epic, experimental record.

Taylor Swift - Reputation: Not her best album; very self-conscious, tired artist narrative and trendy contemporary pop production yet very good music to work to.

The War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding: A strong, durable rock album that managed to exceed my expectations.

Thet Liturgiske Owäsendet - Hafvet: My fascination with this ambient project continued in 2017 - I even bought this album on cassette tape.

Vijay Iyer Sextet - Far From Over: Very enjoyable, free-flowing jazz record.

Wolves In The Throne Room - Thrice Woven: Epic, beautifully crafted black metal album.

Zola Jesus - Okovi: A welcome return to Sacred Bones Records with one of her strongest collections of songs to date.

Event: London Sinfonietta performs Stockhausen’s Trans Date: 06 December 2017 Venue: Royal Festival Hall, London Notes: The evening started with a performance of Tierkreis (Zodiac) - 12 melodies of the star signs. These were short vibrant pieces played by the orchestra, including a man at one point walking around on stage with a tuba. After an extended break needed to set up for Trans, the theatre-like curtain opened to reveal a sea of string players moving in sync at the front of the stage, creating a slow drone backbone for the piece. Aside from the large orchestra - a significant part sat further back on the stage, not visible to the audience - Trans also featured rhythmic sounds of a loom shuttle from tape, which often jarred with the beautiful sounds from the musicians and at one point was the only thing heard during a dramatic break in the piece. There were humourous parts - including atypical trumpet and violin soli - but the most outstanding and memorable aspect of this performance was its visual look. Using lit gauze to bathe the stage in a haze of pinkish light, the show and its grand set-up often appeared other-worldly, dream-like and quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. A night to remember. Rating: 8.5/10

Read more details about the event on Southbank Centre’s website

The five pianist/singer pairings were spread out across the space at Ambika P3

Event: Ragnar Kjartansson - An Die Musik, part of LCMF 2017 Date: 03 December 2017 Venue: Ambika P3, London Notes: Pairings of five pianists with five singers each performed Schubert’s short piece An Die Musik in their own tempo on repeat for seven hours. The five different versions being played at any one time flowed in and out of sync with each other and as a member of the audience you could walk around between the performers, shifting your personal listening experience towards one version or another. As the hours went by, this marathon show became less about the music and more a study of endurance and character - both of the performers but also of other audience members. A really special event which completely made me lose track of time. Seven hours well spent. Rating: 8.5/10

Read more about the event on LCMF’s website

The evening was presented as A Concert For Alice And John Coltrane, marking the 10th anniversary since Alice died and 50th since John departed. It featured artists inspired by and who have worked with these two iconic jazz legends.

It’s Pharoah Sanders in the white shirt on this somewhat fuzzy photo. I promise.

Artist: Pharoah Sanders Quartet Date: 18 November 2017 Venue: The Barbican, London Notes: Sanders has worked with both Alice and John Coltrane, and it’s quite a scoop that The Barbican and EFG London Jazz Festival managed to bring the 77-year-old free jazz pioneer to the British capital. He might not walk so well these days, but it was a great experience to hear and see him perform. He moved in slow motion and would be resting on a chair whenever he didn’t play his saxophone. He had an impressive group of musicians around him - William Henderson, Oli Hayhurst and Gene Calderazzo - so even when he didn’t play, which felt like a fair bit, the music was still always of great quality. The softer moments were particularly beautiful and emotional, and Sanders played very well; rarely have I seen anyone perform with such an incredible feel for their instrument. He even danced a bit towards the end despite his difficulty walking, and some audience participation in terms of singing lifted the mood further.   Rating: 8/10

Artist: Denys Baptiste Quartet Date: 18 November 2017 Venue: The Barbican, London Notes: A strong set inspired by the music from John Coltrane’s later years and aided by guest saxophonist Steve Williamson. The interplay between Baptiste on saxophone and piano player Nikki Yeoh was particularly special to witness.  Rating: 7/10

Artist: Alina Bzhezhinska Quartet Date: 18 November 2017 Venue: The Barbican, London Notes: Really interesting to experience a harp being played in the context of a jazz quartet during this set mainly composed of music by Alice Coltrane. Apart from Bzhezhinska’s harp playing, Tony Kofi’s effort on saxophones was another highlight.    Rating: 6.5/10

Margo Price and her band on stage at Rough Trade East. 

Artist: Margo Price Date: 07 November 2017 Venue: Rough Trade East, London Notes: This in-store showcase for the Nashville based singer-songwriter’s second album, All American Made, turned proper concert with an hour-long set featuring a full band and lots of personality and attitude. Amazing vocals and great musicianship throughout made it really special, and it was obvious that Price and her band were enjoying themselves on stage. She played the new album’s thoughtful, political title track solo and acoustic and it was a highlight of a strong performance which also included plenty of catchy country twang and energetic song material. An intimate, honest and charming show which it was a privilege to witness. Rating: 8/10

The official Margo Price website

A recommended recent Margo Price interview from Cosmopolitan

Project: Different Trains 1947 Date: 01 October 2017 Venue: The Barbican, London Notes: New audiovisual project marking India’s 70-year anniversary of independence, partly inspired by Steve Reich’s Different Trains composition and using BFI National Archive footage as well as new recordings from India which appeared in the music. The project consisted of three movements. Movement I featured Priya Purushothaman’s beautiful singing set to an electronic composition by Actress, which involved processed instrument recordings and what seemed like an uneven mix. Movement II saw producer Sandunes and percussionist Jivraj Singh collaborate on a successful performance involving synth, electronics and drums and an Indian themed film by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard. Movement III had Jack Barnett from These New Puritans and Jivraj Singh work together on a piece featuring stretched vocal recordings and rhythmic drumming mimicking the sound of a train. Another Forsyth/Pollard film filled the screen behind the stage and helped make this last movement the highlight of the evening. An interesting project though not entirely successful in my opinion.          Rating: 6/10

Artist: Darkstar Date: 01 October 2017 Venue: The Barbican, London Notes: The electronic duo performed a composition made as part of a project called Trackbed in collaboration with Harthill Youth Centre in Liverpool. The music was pleasant enough but mainly worked as a soundtrack to Cieron Magat’s engaging short film documenting the project and the young people taking part in it. Unfortunately the film had to be looped a couple of times to fit the duration of the music performed, which felt distracting and a bit odd.         Rating: 5.5/10

The official Different Trains 1947 website

Artist: Sigur Ros Date: 22 September 2017 Venue: Eventim Apollo, London Notes: Majestic performance by the Icelandic trio with plenty of epic visuals and great sound. Interesting selection of material though I was slightly disappointed Svefn-G-Englar hadn’t found its way into the 2+ hour long show.      Rating: 7/10

The official Sigur Ros website

This event was the first of two nights put on at Selfridges to celebrate Samizdat - a merchandise label for a fictional noise band. Read more about it here. Above you can see the bag with earplugs handed out at the door of the venue in the basement of the exclusive department store.

Keiji Haino singing on stage

Artist: Keiji Haino Date: 01 September 2017 Venue: Ultralounge, Selfridges, London Notes: The unique silver-haired Japanese legend of experimental music performed a diverse show which saw him play electric guitar, electronics and sing at various points during the set. There were tender musical passages but mostly it was deafening noise action. Always fascinating to watch live.       Rating: 7/10

KK Null screaming into his special microphone

Artist: KK Null Date: 01 September 2017 Venue: Ultralounge, Selfridges, London Notes: The concert started with an upbeat greeting from the revered Japanese noise artist and leader of Zeni Geva before he launched into a challenging set fuelled by power electronics and his screaming into a special mic. The music was very physical - at one point I could feel the fabric of my boxer shorts vibrate under my jeans. A couple of downbeat breaks brought a bit of breathing space to the otherwise full-on proceedings, and it was cool to witness KK Null’s intense performance in person. Rating: 6.5/10

The official Samizdat website

The official Keiji Haino website

Artist: Lana Del Rey Date: 24 July 2017 Venue: Brixton Academy, London Notes: This show was only announced a week before it happened and mainly promoted as a celebration of the new album Lust For Life with fans having to pre-order said release to gain pre-sale access to the tickets. As such, it was quite a surprise that so few songs from Lust For Life ended up being performed at the concert. Part of the reason for this could be that the majority of the key tracks that were put out in the run-up to the album’s release involve guests - including the title track (ft The Weeknd), Groupie Love (ft A$AP Rocky), Summer Bummer (ft A$AP Rocky & Playboi Carti) - and are challenging to play without these artists present. But there are still 11 songs without guests on the new album, so why do we only get Cherry, White Mustang, an a capella version of first single Love (as the band couldn’t play it according to LDR’s own comments on stage) and a short excerpt of In My Feelings? I particularly missed 13 Beaches, Heroin and God Bless America - And All The Beautiful Women In It. If the band hadn’t learned to play them yet, it’s quite embarrassing - especially with ticket prices around £50. Mind you, it was a decent show at the fairly intimate Brixton Academy. The stage set-up was beautiful, the lighting stylish and the band did play well. A relaxed Del Rey, dressed casually in black and with big hair, confidently crooned her way through classics including Ride, Video Games, Born To Die, Summertime Sadness, Blue Jeans and Cruel World. I know it’s rare to complain about too many older hits being played at a show, but this was one of those concerts where I was really excited about the new album. The fact that I kept hoping she’d play some more of Lust For Life’s highlights ended in an anti-climax when the band finished the set with Off To The Races after around 70 minutes on stage and it turned out there were no encores. Of course it’s always good to leave people wanting more, but as this concert was tied closely to the new album campaign, and a questionable unreleased song called Serial Killer did find its way on to the setlist, I felt disappointed. I’m happy to have seen her perform but maybe I’ll stick to the records going forward. Rating: 6.5/10

The official Lana Del Rey website

Artists: Mica Levi & BBC Concert Orchestra Date: 09 July 2017 Venue: Royal Festival Hall, London Notes: I had high expectations for this world premiere - I mean, how can you not when the work in question is composed by Mica Levi, the woman behind two of the best film scores in recent years: Jackie and Under The Skin. This new piece entitled Everlast was commissioned and performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and is Levi’s first work for a full orchestra. It’s difficult to break down a complex 15 minute classical composition on just two listens but I really liked it - including the fact it moved from full-on parts to hushed moments, from melodic brightness to sombre whistled tones. The first performance was somewhat tainted by a baby crying. After an insightful and quite amusing interview with the modest Levi and conductor André de Ridder a second performance followed, this time baby-free and even with an alternative ending. It was a great honour to be present for this event, part of the New Music Biennial 2017. Rating: 8/10

Darkstar performing on stage with James McVinnie sitting above them, playing the Royal Festival Hall’s immense organ

Artists: Darkstar & James McVinnie Date: 07 July 2017 Venue: Royal Festival Hall, London Notes: New collaborative work composed for electronic instruments handled by Darkstar and traditional organ played by James McVinnie. The electronic parts were often loop-based and their combination with the delicate, beautiful tones of the Royal Festival Hall’s mighty organ occasionally felt a bit clumsy. However, the piece, entitled Dance Unity, was still interesting and performed twice with a talk featuring the three musicians in the middle as part of the New Music Biennial 2017. Rating: 6/10

Artist: Diamanda Galas Date: 19 June 2017 Venue: The Barbican, London Notes: The unique American artist’s gothic image - the big black flowing gown, the long black hair and the dramatic makeup - helped create the mood for this engaging performance, but it was her extraordinary voice and general musicianship that really impressed me. Mostly singing while playing a piano, and occasionally reciting poems at the front of the stage without any backing, Galas delivered a great, intense solo show which ended with no less than three separate encores. A proper cult artist. Rating: 7/10

The official Diamanda Galas website

Bill Callahan (right) and Matt Kinsey caught between songs at Hoxton Hall

Artist: Bill Callahan Date: 04 May 2017 Venue: Hoxton Hall, London Notes: It’s rare I find myself at gigs where people opening cans of lager or taking photos on a DSLR camera can be heard over the music. But this was one such show. Bill Callahan’s uniquely sounding baritone voice and acoustic guitar created a delicate live experience at the intimate Hoxton Hall which only became stronger by the addition of Matt Kinsey’s electric guitar. The concert featured highlights from Callahan’s long career - both as (Smog)/Smog and under his own name, and the focus was on the classic Smog album A River Ain’t Too Much To Love. Callahan’s take on Americana still feels timeless and his observations between songs this evening were dry but very funny. The main problem with this show - as well as all the other times I’ve seen him play - was that no matter how good the setlist is, there will always be plenty of other of his awesome songs you'd like him to play, too.  Rating: 7/10

View the setlist from the show

Members of the audience soaking up May sunshine outside The Barbican during one of the concert’s breaks

Event: Music In Twelve Parts by Philip Glass Date: 01 May 2017 Venue: The Barbican, London Notes: This performance of Philip Glass’ Music In Twelve Parts was a rare treat. In total the work amounts to four hours of music. At The Barbican it was performed by a 10-piece group of youthful musicians with three breaks inserted, taking the full show to five hours and 30 minutes. The minimalist composition flowed like a gentle spring stream with intricate variations and subtle shifts. The concert was uplifting and trance-inducing, and it felt much shorter than it actually was. The only negative thing was that The Barbican had decided to allow latecomers entry to the hall, frequently causing the remaining audience to be distracted from the music. Rating: 8/10

Read more about the performance on The Barbican’s website

Pharmakon in one of her quieter moments at Electrowerkz

Artist: Pharmakon Date: 25 April 2017 Venue: Electrowerkz, London Notes: It’s great to experience Margaret Chardiet’s noise project live. A table full of machinery provided a cool, powerful base for her intense onstage persona. She spent around a third of the time working the gear, a third at the front of the stage screaming and the last third in the audience producing a similar output while moving through the crowd with the microphone. The latter part was hit-or-miss: if you stood near the spots where the performer appeared, then great, but if you didn’t, it was frustrating as she could be very hard to spot. Exciting action-packed show though - and the half-hour duration was just about perfect. Rating: 7/10

G.H. at Electrowerkz

Artist: G.H. Date: 25 April 2017 Venue: Electrowerkz, London Notes: One-man project playing experimental electronics with electric guitar. I appreciate improvisation but this occasionally just sounded random - though when it locked into a groove and stayed there, it was decent. Rating: 5.5/10

The Pharmakon page at Sacred Bones Records

Chelsea Wolfe at Heaven

Artist: Chelsea Wolfe Date: 18 April 2017 Venue: Heaven, London Notes: Solid set focused on the most recent album, 2015′s Abyss, with a few older and two new songs - The Culling and Static Hum - thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately I found the sound was questionable at times and the band seemed to have a technical issue halfway through the concert. It’s the sixth time I’ve seen the Californian singer-songwriter live and it was the least satisfying, though still a good night out. Rating: 6.5/10

Artist: True Widow Date: 18 April 2017 Venue: Heaven, London Notes: Good doomy riffs and heavy grooves from this Dallas, Texas trio. The vocals were quite mediocre though and personally I would have preferred them as an instrumental act. Rating: 6/10

True Widow at Heaven

The official Chelsea Wolfe website

Dancer Elisabeth Schilling stands in front of the projections as Guy De Bievre (lap steel guitar) and Lori Lixenberg (voice) perform in the background. Niblock is vaguely visible sat behind a computer at a table on the far right.

Artist: Phill Niblock Date: 26 March 2017 Venue: South Tank, Tate Modern, London Notes: Two-hour intermedia performance from the legendary experimental artist’s Environments series. It saw various nature footage projected across four large screens and soundtracked by deep drone music with contributions from guests on electric guitar, lap steel guitar, tenor sax, analogue synthesizer, voice as well as a contemporary dancer at various times throughout the show. A very beautiful, fulfilling and memorable Sunday evening. Rating: 8.5/10

Read more about the performance on Tate Modern’s website