One of the national newspapers did 100 best albums of 2018. I only had one of them – Marianne Faithful. Yet I buy lots of new albums as ever. So here are mine. It’s not a great year. I suspect only the first three would have made my Top Ten most other years. Neither the Paul McCartney, (Egypt Station) nor the two somewhat plodding Van Morrison releases made the ten. I bought them.
NEW ALBUMS
1 In The Blue Light – Paul Simon
2 The Thomas Moore Project- Eleanor McEvoy
(Technically 2017, but no one I knew saw a copy till mid 2018)
3 The Transports – The Transports
4 Everybody Knows – Stills & Collins
5 Our Country: Americana – Act II – Ray Davies
6 The Prodigal Son – Ry Cooder
7 Blood Red Roses – Rod Stewart
6 The Projector – Simone Felice
9 Here If You Listen – David Crosby
10 Bigger- Sugarland
BEST COMPILATION
The Oxford American Southern Music Issue 2018: North Carolina
I always forget to list it, but every year’s issue is “the best” of its year.
LIVE ALBUM
Bobbie Gentry: Live at the BBC
Released on vinyl for Record Store Day, now all these tracks from her BBC TV Shows and many more are on the new box set.
ARCHIVE UNRELEASED ALBUM
Glen Campbell; Glen Sings For The King
These were publishing pitches for songs written by Ben Weissman. Ignore the dreadful posthumous duetting on We Call On Him (mixing Elvis and Glen versions). A lot of this stuff is “the worst of Elvis” dating from the dire films of 1965 to 1967. Thirteen of the eighteen went on to be recorded by Elvis. What is so fascinating is that Glen Campbell does guide versions for all Elvis’s mannerisms, including ‘uh-huhs’ and “sincere narration”. It shows that the film era stuff really was “sing by numbers”(just copy Glen’s guide) rather than “paint by numbers.”
Done with a small group. Probably Glen on guitar. None intended for release.
An odd juxtaposition with Bobbie Gentry here- they did an album together.
NEW SONGS OF 2018
1 Rene & Georgette Magritte 2018 version – Paul Simon
2 Though Humble The Banquet – Eleanor McEvoy
3 I’ll Be Your Girl – The Decemberists
4 The President Sang Amazing Grace – Joan Baez
5 Us – James Bay
6 Janet – David Crosby
7 The Fawn- Simone Felice
8 Apollo- St Paul & The Broken Bones
9 River of Gold – Stills & Collins
10 Grace – Rod Stewart
REISSUES
There have been some mega re-issues this year, and mega box sets. This is my favourite section, but also the most difficult.
1 The Kinks are The Village Green Preservation Society de-luxe box
The 2018 stereo remaster sounds crisper than the 2003 version. I am a strong believer in listening to early Beatles in the version they saw mixed … mono. By 1968 stereo has ceased to be ping pong, and I can’t see any advantage in the original mono mix CD, even if that was how most of the early copies were.
It’s also unlike this year’s other big boxes. There weren’t the multi-tracks to allow a Giles Martin to recreate the album in 5.1 surround on blu-ray as on The Beatles (the White Album), … what would be the point? They also avoided the over-bright Bob Clearmountain remix which Music From Big Pink received. Indeed because it’s a dry recording without reverb, it sounds very modern.
You won’t spend much time revisiting the plethora of bonus tracks on all 5 CDs, but as a comprehensive beautiful box set to hold and have, this is the best this year.
What you get:
5 CDS, 3 LPs, 3 x 45s
- Stereo 2018 remaster + 12 bonus tracks
- Mono 2018 remaster + 14 bonus tracks
- Village Green Sessions – 25 tracks of alternate mixes and backing tracks
- Village Green At The BBC – 23 live recordings
- Demos, Sessions, Preservation & Live
- +
- 2 LPs of the original album, mono and stereo
- 1 LP the Swedish (& European) 12 track album that was withdrawn in the UK, when Ray decided to go for 15 tracks – in fact he had decided to go for a 20 track double album, but Pye were never a label for such a (then) innovative project.
- 3 x European 45s in replica picture sleeves
- A book
- A pack of realia, posters, tickets, photo cards
2 Bobbie Gentry: The Girl From Chickasaw County box set
8 CDs. No blu ray, no vinyl.
What you get is everything Bobbie Gentry recorded for Capitol, a lot of bonus material and her entire BBC TV Show live recordings. It’s briliant. Straightforward remaster. No messing around with remixes. It proves what an important singer-songwriter she was.
3 The Beatles: The White Album box set
Esher demos? OK. You get the lot, and Giles Martin has brought new clarity to the whole, but what you really really want is the blu-ray with Giles Martin’s 5.1 surround remixes. So you need the big box. Big picture book too.
4 Trout Mask Replica reissue by Third Man Records
Third Man’s subscription club, The Vault, remains surprising and wonderful. I bought Trout Mask Replica back in the day, in a different town. When I got home, 150 miles away, opened it, one LP was dished and unplayable. I was thrilled to get a perfect 180 g vinyl new pressing plus the other stuff The Vault put in.
5 Bob Dylan: More Blood, More Tracks
I don’t like the way it’s been assembled. Boring listening through multiple takes. I would have preferred a curated “New York version” and “Minneapolis Version” then the rest.
ELECTRIC LADYLAND
I didn’t buy it. No Hendrix reissues come within miles of the first three original albums, as originally done. I don’t want bonus tracks – Jimi knew what the stuff to use was. Worse is the sleeve. They claim the photo sleeve was Jimi’s original choice and preference. This is mealy mouthed. They actually mean “The original cover is way too non-PC to display nowadays.” They have tried other designs before. I’ll stick with the original, but rarely I play Hendrix nowadays.
WORST REMASTER / REMIX of 2018
Music From Big Pink box set
I’ve shifted more and more to negative the more I hear it. My main review (LINKED HERE) was a couple of months ago and was far more positive than my end of year assessment:
So here we are in 2018, and the full remastered box set edition:
- You get lithographs by Elliot Landy.
- A book with photos, and new liner notes by David Fricke.
- A remastered CD. As in 2000 it adds the then new “outtakes” but adds an allegedly “acapella version” of I Shall Be Released. It isn’t.
- A blu-ray disc containing a 2.0 PCM 96 bit version, plus two 5.1 surround versions.
- A two LP set in the US gatefold sleeve. This is simply the original album, but recorded at 45 rpm (like a “12 inch single” from the 1980s and 1990s) so as to have a wider dynamic range … basically louder with more bass.
It’s intrinsically the best album here, but I really don’t like the Bob Clearmountain brightly boosted mix with shifted positions. He has ruined that wooden organic sound of Levon’s drums. He’s taken Levon away from his favoured seating position. I can imagine what Levon would have thought of the remix. Bonus tracks (apart from the ones on the last Remasters) are only an “a capella” version of I Shall Be Released, and that’s just the backing turned down, so just a con. The drums sounded way better and more organic on the previous remaster, and the shifting of instrument positions is cretinous. Yes, the best album, but screwed up by Clearmountain in a tasteless remix which gets more tasteless everytime I hear it. You have no need of the box except as an artefact.
They should have added an unreleased live set … Woodstock is the obvious one.
DO NOT LET BOB CLEARMOUNTAIN ANYWHERE NEAR THE BROWN ALBUM IN 2019.
BOOKS
A suprise for me.
Good Vibrations: My Life As A Beach Boy – by Mike Love
Very detailed, very sharp on particulars. Well written too. I’d always seen him as the “baddie” but as Brian has always used lyric writers to this day, I now believe that Mike wrote the lyrics he says he did and was uncredited early on. I also believe him when he says that he never said his most often quoted line “Don’t fuck with the formula” over SMiLE.
DISCOVERIES OF PAST STUFF
Every year among the vast archive of recorded music, I find I discover an artist I’ve missed altogether, or paid too little attention to. Then I start exploring the back catalogue and it’s usually the most interesting musical journey of the year.
Here are my five for 2018
Michael Marra
Nic Jones
Eleanor McEvoy
Chuck Prophet
Johnny Flynn
10 MOST PLAYED SONGS
You can check in iTunes, and find out which songs were most played this year.
1 King of May – Natalie Merchant (from Ophelia)
2 Break Your Heart- Natalie Merchant (from Ophelia)
3 On The Nature of Daylight – Max Richter (from The Blue Notebooks)
LINK TO ON THE NATURE OF DAYLIGHT
4 Rene & Georgette Magritte 2018 version – Paul Simon
5 Though Humble The Banquet – Eleanor McEvoy
LINK TO THOUGH HUMBLE THE BANQUET
The Minstrel Boy- Eleanor McEvoy
The Little Pot Stove – Nic Jones
Frida Kahlo’s Visit to The Taybridge Bar – Michael Marra
Village Green Preservation Society- The Kinks
LINK TO VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY
Picture Book – The Kinks
MY FIVE FAVOURITE EXERCISE SESSION TRACKS (as last year)
I play these five very loud (in reverse order) most days while I do the exercise bike for a knee problem. I stick to them most days. They probably exceed the iTunes ones above, but are played off a CD
Shoo-Rah-Shoo-Rah – Betty Wright
My Girl Sloopy – The Vibrations
I Can’t Believe What You Say – Ike & Tina Turner
Watermelon Man – Mongo Santamaria
Smoky Joe’s La-La – Googie Rene Combo
CONCERTS
As last year, concerts have been giving way to theatre. Far fewer than a few years ago.
1 Paul Simon, Hyde Park
2 James Taylor, Hyde Park
3 The Four Seasons Reimagined, Max Richter, Wanamaker Playhouse
4 The Bootleg Beatles, Bournemouth
5 Chuck Prophet & Stephanie Finch, Winchester
6 King Crimson, Bournemouth
7 Cliff Richard, Bournemouth
8 Ian Felice, Winchester
9 Shawn Colvin, Hyde Park
10 Johnny Flynn, Hyde Park
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