Every year I make a compilation of some of my favourite tracks from the last 12 months, one song per artist. This yearâs compilation is called âThere Is Nothing Left To Hideâ and you can listen to it on mixcloud or download mp3s (click the links). Hereâs the run down - no particular order of significance, although thereâs quite a lot of California in there, the majority of the tracks are female-led and four out of five are from albums released this year. But itâs all good. Why not listen while you read? Â
ALDOUS HARDING - Zoo Eyes Aldous Harding continued to amaze this year with an extrordinary album âDesignerâ, which scored 88% on Metacritic. Words like âidiosyncraticâ, âawkwardâ, âintimateâ and âalienâ might come to mind, but the Independent got it right, saying âHarding sounds delightfully free.â A true original. M. BUTTERFLY - Diamond Mist Diamond Mist from M Butterflyâs Sophomore album, recorded live on tape in hometown Brighton. A fine performance of a gorgeous song. THE IDA - Banana Boxes Blomst are the best Norwegian band at the moment, so it was great that their first UK gig was in a local cafe/bar in Brighton and they blew the audience away as I knew they would. Lead-singer Ida also records songs in English under the name âThe Idaâ and this is from her first EP in that guise. HANYA - Trust Fund Baby Hanya (or Post Heather as they used to be known) have been playing occasional gigs for a few years now, but Heather finished her studies this year so theyâve been able to record and play more. This is from the first of their two recent EPs âI used to love you but now I donâtâ.  JENNY LEWIS - Hollywood Lawn New albums from Jenny Lewis doesnât come around often but when they do itâs like your favourite big sister coming home, and 4th solo album âOn The Lineâ was no exception. HEATHER WOODS BRODERICK - I Try A talented multi-instrumentalist, a player in othersâ bands, like Sharon Van Ettenâs, and sister to Peter, Broderick finally got to release her own record, and it was a beauty. KEVIN MORBY - OMG Rock n Roll The Woodsâ Morby has released a series of fine solo albums over the last few years but his latest âOh My Godâ is a step above most things heâs done before and almost everything released this year. A stunning record.
STELLA DONNELLY - Beware of the Dogs Australian Stella Donnelly released her solo album and it provided amongst other things a soundtrack for the Me-Too gen. This is the title-track. BILL CALLAHAN - 747 One musical highlight this year was seeing Bill play live in London. This track is from his 17th album Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest, his first for five years, a time in which he has grown a family and become more domesticated, happenings reflected in a beautiful new collection of songs. NATIVE HARROW - How You Do Things Third album âHappier Nowâ is a stunner, and seeing Devin and Stephen play a cooler-than-cool self-promoted set in a tiny local Brighton venue, the Village, was another musical highlight this year.  SARA MELSON - Feel It Coming Came across the unsigned Sara Melson on Soundcloud and this song blew me away. It somehow manages to combine intimacy with power-balladry, without at any time cracking into corn. Youâll love it. An EP is coming soon, NANCY PRIDDY - Youâve Come This Way Before Nancy Priddy was an actress who appeared in the Waltons and Bewitched, dated Stephen Stills and is Christina Applegateâs mum. In 1968 she released an album that is a minor psychedelic classic and this is the title track. ANA EGGE - Teacake and Janey After last yearâs excellent White Tiger, Egge came straight back this year with a new album âIs It The Kissâ that is even better. This track is from that. NICOLETTE MACLEOD - Father Father I put on a gig featuring Nicolette Corcoran Macleod as a support act ten years ago but incredibly she only got around to releasing an album this year. It is a little bit special. RED RIVER DIALECT - Snowdon From Cornwall via Brighton and London, on their latest album this wonderful folk-rock band managed to create an anthem for Wales. DAMIEN JURADO - Lincoln His 14th album âThe Shape Of A Stormâ was a stripped-down affair, revealing the beauty of Juradoâs songwriting in its simplest starkest form. DAVID McWILLIAMS - Livinâs Just A State Of Mind David McWilliams (1945-2002) was one of David Bowieâs favourite songwriters, and touted as Northern Irelandâs answer to Dylan, a not unreasonable comparison given the quality of McWilliamsâ songs. He is best known for âthe Days of Pearly Spencerâ (1967) but this is the title track from a 1974 album. LANA DEL REY - Doinâ Time I didnât think I liked Lana Del Rey but she just gets better and better and this yearâs âNorman Fucking Rockwellâ (6th album in 9 years) is undeniably a superb achievement, so much so that the Guardian deservedly made it its album of the year. PORRIDGE RADIO - Lilac Anyone who heard Brighton-London band Porridge Radio play one of their five or six gigs at the Great Escape festival this year came away singing the (at that time) unreleased new song âLilacâ. Now they are signed to Secretly Canadian and âLilacâ has at last got a release. Itâs stunning:Â
âI donât want us to be bitter I want us to get better I want us to be kinder to ourselves and to each otherâŚâ
[Bonus Track] THE FAMILY GRAVE - The Children (demo) The Family Grave (f.k.a. Hiawatha Telephone Company) released an album âEverybody is Flawedâ at the start of the year. They only wrote one new song this year, The Children, which was released on Soundcloud. We like it. A lot. Thatâs it folks! Listen to the whole compilation on mixcloud or download the mp3s Â
