Leonard Cohen - Live in London

Two things about this album, firstly it is one of the most enjoyable live recordings I have ever heard and secondly it is by an artist whose time has come. Recorded on 17^th July 2008 at London’s O2 Arena, ‘Live in London’ was released as a DVD and a two-CD set in March 2009. It has received rave reviews by the media and now in early 2010 he has received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award after being a singer/songwriter/performer for over 40 years.

I have to admit that more often than not I find live recordings disappointing. How often have we heard artists who can’t hit their notes correctly on stage? The balance and sound quality is invariably not quite the same and the crowd noises are annoying. In addition, the live recording doesn’t help you enjoy the atmosphere that was present. None of these criticisms apply here.

Firstly, you have to say that the Cohen voice is still as powerful and deep as it always has been, in fact there is probably an added timbre that now comes with over forty years of performing. Unlike other artists as they get older, this septuagenarian’s singing now seems to suit his work more than it has ever done. Cohen has always had a maturity of thought way beyond his contemporaries, so the aged voice is somehow even more appropriate.

Secondly, the live audio quality of this recording is the best I have ever heard. There has been plenty of criticism about the acoustics at the O2 Arena but you can’t detect any problems here at all. What’s more listening to the album you wouldn’t know it’s a massive arena as the warmth and intimacy of the event is captured perfectly.

Lastly, the instrumentation on this album is absolutely exquisite. Cohen collaborated with ten of the finest musicians including Bob Metzger (guitar, steel guitar), Javier Mas (bandurria), Dino Soldo (saxophone, wind instruments) and the sublime voices of Sharon Robinson and the Webb Sisters, Hattie and Charley. The accompaniments alone make this album worth buying, even if you have the original versions you can’t help but be impressed with how beautifully and sensitively these songs have been re-arranged. My only gripe and it’s not really a criticism is that Cohen hasn’t made use of strings in his little band, I would love to hear a violin or cello as I’m sure this would add another dimension.

My other point was that Cohen is appreciated by his audience more now than he has ever been. The music, spiritual but not sentimental, reflects the current popularity of poetry and anything related to mind, body and spirit. Cohen spent five years in a Zen Buddhist monastery in Japan between 1996 and 2001 and it has undoubtedly had an impact on his whole being. He has always had a presence but there is now an inner calm and peace which he can use to mesmerise his audience.

Cohen uses all his experience to win over the crowd. There’s cleverness right from the start, welcoming his audience like guests with “it’s wonderful to be gathered here just on the other side of intimacy.” He chooses his words between the songs very carefully and his use of humour and wit never detracts from the mood he is trying to create. He ridicules his former depressions by naming all the anti-depressant drugs he has been on and reminisces about the last time he performed in London, 15 years previous when he says he was “a kid with a crazy dream.” The patter is laid-back and droll but you can’t help but love it.

He pampers the audience but his team of musicians as well. He knows exactly when to get the applause for his skilled performers. He has the timing of a true professional.

In the second half he recites some of this poetry including the incredibly moving “A Thousand Kisses Deep.” You feel that this brings together a lot of aspects that are so important to him at the moment including love, anti-ego and ageing, “The ponies run, the girls are young The odds are there to beat You win a while and then it’s done Your little winning streak And summoned now to deal With your invincible defeat You live your life as if it’s real A thousand kisses deep.”

There are too many excellent tracks on this album to mention them all. Suzanne, Bird on the Wire and So Long Marianne are classics from his two albums ‘The Songs of Leonard Cohen’ and ‘Songs From A Room’ in the late sixties. There are all his later favourites as well including Everybody Knows, The Gypsy’s Wife, Anthem and Democracy. For anyone who has not yet found the works of this unique master there are 26 of his greatest songs over two and a half hours. If you missed the concert but have some of his records from the past, there is still plenty to enjoy here though.

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

Unfortunately, just about the whole world knows how good this London foursome’s first album is by now. It won’t stop me though from extolling the virtues of this forty-six plus minutes of sheer delight. At a time when there are large swathes of mediocrity coming out of the music industry Mumford & Son’s Sigh No More stands out like a beacon of brilliant incandescence.

The first thing to say is how can a band become this good so quickly when they only formed in late 2007. There are shades of other groups in the Mumfords that come under the folk/rock/bluegrass domain. Fairport Convention, Strawbs, Dubliners, Pogues and Lindisfarne are names from the past that come to mind. There’s also a much more contemporary feel with the likes of Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire and the Maccabees in the same melting pot.

Stand-out tracks on the album are The Cave which is a great boisterous folk singalong with so much energy, Winter Winds has a feeling of Christmas with a marvellous brass processional finale, Awake My Soul is a feelgood piece with a rousing change of tempo and perhaps the pick of the album Little Lion Man which shows the band’s lyrical maturity so well, about a man wrestling with his ego after letting down his loved one.

There are other aspects of the Mumford’s music that make them special though. The first is Marcus Mumford’s distinct vocal style, angst driven but with a passion that just screams to be listened to. It singles the group out from the others in the same way as Anthony Followill seems to have done for Kings of Leon.

It would be unfair to say this is any way a one-man band though. The musical dexterity is prodigious throughout and for any guitar aficionados just listen to that banjo playing on Roll Away Your Stone and Little Lion Man. It is not just the musicianship that is excellent though, the production is masterly, crisp and clear.

This is the total package then at the first attempt. It’s a work of maturity in so many ways and such a good starting point for four men in their early 20s. It will be a surprise if they don’t get awards for this and it will be interesting to see how things progress in 2010 and beyond.

Unlike so many albums there is a consistency of track that is rarely found. It is one of my bugbears that you sometimes get a few great tracks on an album but rare that you get the whole twelve that you love. I have heard others say it is one of their favourites of all time and I can see it becoming a worthy classic in years to come.

Dan Black - Un

Dan Black is one of the bright new talents coming out of the U.K’s geeky Wonky Pop movement. This combines pop, rock, dance, rhythm and blues and hip-hop in a unique mix. There are lots of influences; Peter Gabriel, Prince, Calvin Harris, Madness and Jay-Z to name a view. The end result though is unlike anything else, hence the title of the album “Un.”

There is another reason for the title though. The album was produced while Black was living alone in digs in Paris and ‘un’ of course is French for one. The artist admits that the album was the culmination of a period where he had to be incredibly focussed. This was a very fruitful time but he felt very isolated and alone.

The result though is the key to the album’s appeal. There’s an intensity and passion which few artists today can equal, each song has an energy which you can’t stop help but rock along to. There are massive hooks here to each song but Black is not just a singer/songwriter he is also a master technician of intelligent electronica.

The slight weakness is bound to be cited as his nasal voice but in his defence a lot of huge singers over the last few decades have struggled with their voices and it hasn’t stopped them from becoming famous; Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen to name but three. What’s important though is the strength of the songs and like the aforementioned he certainly scores. The other thing to say is that there is perfectionism here, the execution is well controlled and he always seems to hit the notes absolutely correctly.

Favourite tracks on the album are the opener Symphonies which shows the artist’s originality and creativity with atmospheric use of string and choral samples, Pump My Pumps has so much energy and a stomping good beat, Wonder has everything, a great drum riff, impressive vocals and the catchiest chorus line, while the concluding Let Go shows Black has the sensitivity for a touching, beautiful, slower number.

All in all, this is an incredibly good first effort. The twelve tracks join together to achieve a highly pleasing coherent whole. Whether he will scale the heights of stardom remains to be seen but this is a very impressive start.

Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

Bat For Lashes second album Two Suns does not disappoint. Anybody who enjoyed Natasha Khan’s first offering Fur and Gold is sure to like this though the artist has moved things on with less emphasis on acoustic folk and much more on electro-pop. This is no commercial sell-out though and the atmosphere is still dark and moody. If Two Suns suggests more light then don’t be fooled the songs are still steeped in nocturnal doings and ages past.

Bat For Lashes is a bit of an enigma. There’s shades of 60s/70s pop, a touch of Celtic folk, a dose of Goth, a bit of opera and a slightly bigger dose of ethereal electronica. The result is music that is impossible to pigeon-hole. Comparison with other artists or styles is not easy. I’ve seen others mention Kate Bush, Tori Amos and Bjork, but they are all more firmly in the real world that Natasha Khan seems to have transcended.

There are eleven excellent tracks on the album.

1. Glass shows how versatile the Khan voice is, effortlessly going up and down the scales and blending in beautifully with guitars and percussion.

2. Sleep Alone is more folky, a slight Clannad feel to it perhaps but the voice again excels.

3. Moon and Moon is a slower piece, eerie but exquisite, with moody piano accompaniment.

4. Daniel is so simple and dreamy, well chosen as a single.

5. Peace of Mind has a choir backing and tribal feel, absolutely stunning.

6. Siren Song has soft beginnings that build in tension to a great climax.

7. Pearl’s Dream is another intense number with clever vocals and clapping.

8. Good Love is a smouldering love song with simple vocal, talking in places, and organ accompaniment.

9. Two Planets has a tribal feel with effective clapping and drumming, sounds like something, which would be sung round Stonehenge.

10. Travelling Woman is one of my favourites, a simple ballad which would have single potential and I could see it getting covered at some stage, gives me goose bumps.

11. The Big Sleep is different again, operatic in style but intriguing and enjoyable, is that really Scott Walker accompanying on vocals?

If Natasha Khan is portrayed as a wild child or wayward it doesn’t affect the polished end result. In fact what strikes you more than anything over the two albums is the authenticity of the artist. There is progression, evolution and breaking new ground but great care is being taken to protect the mystique and atmosphere that has become the BFL brand. The mark of a great artist is when the second album builds on an excellent first effort and Natasha Khan has certainly done this.

The Maccabees - Wall of Arms

As a 54-year-old music lover who grew up on a diet of The Beatles, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd and Van Der Graaf Generator, it has to be said that the current crop of pop groups don’t really generate the same sort of interest. When you look down the ranks of the album download charts most of the groups I either don’t really get or I don’t really enjoy listening to. This could be a sign of my age but I like to think that I still have a fairly broad taste in music. One group that has stood out for me in 2009 though is The Maccabees.

Wall of Arms, the Maccabees second album, is one that definitely improves with repeated listenings. The sound is darker but richer than their first offering Colour It In which was released in 2007. In the interim they have concentrated on their writing as they did not want to become just another indie guitar band. That’s not to say that they are not an excellently tight guitars and drums unit but there is now so much more.

Apparently, the five members of the London based group are all into different types of music and it shows. Rather than making the listening experience a problem though, the flying off on routes that you wouldn’t necessarily expect make this band stand out from the crowd.

Their producer for the second album Markus Dravs, who has worked previously with Coldplay, Arcade Fire and Bjork has done such a good job adding depth. This is evident right from the first track, Love You Better, where the addition of a brass section two-thirds the way through sets the scene. This is quickly followed by the indie-disco of One Hand Holding and semi-anthem of Can You Give It. The latter had an excellent video of the Gloucestershire cheese rolling to promote it.

When it came to videos though the prize had to go to the disturbing but highly poignant No Kind Words. This is such a simple idea of two guys facing one another with speech and thought patterns coming out of their heads. The story of a relationship where there has been deception, words said and silence needed has never been so cleverly portrayed in a 3-minute production.

Variety then in the tracks but what’s consistent throughout are the vocals and lyrics. Lead singer Orlando Weeks sounds stressed but it’s a distinctive voice and style which adds intensity to the songs. The words touch on relationships and the problems people have. The mood set seemed well suited to a year of such uncertainties but this is not dirge music and the band’s drive and energy will stop you from feeling suicidal.

From 4^th February the Maccabees will be headlining the NME Shockwaves Awards Tour. They have got a reputation for being one of the best live bands after their highly acclaimed appearances at the Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2009. Who knows, there may be even bigger times ahead?

Lily Allen - It's Not Me It's You

In the ultra-competitive world that we live in mega-stars need to be ahead of the game if they want to keep in the forefront of the public's attention. The media are totally ruthless in destroying artists, especially those that seem to have made a meteoric rise to fame. Artists like Madonna have continuously re-invented themselves to secure their position and Lily Allen showed signs in 2009 that she is well capable of doing the same.

Ms Allen's second album It's Not Me It's You transcended style and influences. She seemed to have moved on from her first album Alright, Still which had a much more contemporary hip hop/ rap/ indie/ ska feel to it and in stead we had a mix of electronic/ country/ vaudeville/ fairground and pure pop. With the musical accompaniment and big production many of the tracks seemed to have a feel of the past especially the 80s and 90s. If ever there was a chance that Kate Nash, or any other artist for that matter, was going to tread on her toes with their similarity, this record certainly moved the goalposts.

It's strange really, Lily Allen doesn't really sing, she talks but she is very melodic. The words are as you would expect hilarious and naughty and you certainly get value for money, no other artist seems to pack as many words into each track in such effortless fashion. There's a huge amount of self-appraisal but it's all tongue-in-cheek and playful, like on The Fear, "It doesn't matter, 'cos I'm packing plastic And that's what makes my life so f*****g fantastic."

The Fear with it's fairytale-style video was a download chart number 1 at the beginning of 2009 and further success followed with the country and western spoof Not Fair. Other really catchy tracks on the album are I Could Say, Never Gonna Happen and He Wasn't There.

In September 2009, Lily told the press that she couldn't see a way that she could ever make a profit making new records and because of this had no plans to make another album. She also said she would not be renewing her record contract and would take a two year break from performing, starting in March 2010. Apparently she is planning to launch a record label and open a fashion rental shop. Whatever happens it is to be hoped that she wont be disappearing from recording for too long as she is currently one of the most original and exciting talents around.

Imogen Heap - Ellipse

My one complaint about so many albums today is lack of consistency. How often do you get one cracking track in amongst a load of mediocrity? When I came to transfer all my favourite music onto my iPod recently I found that I ended up downloading 3,000+ tracks from1,000+ albums, in other words an average of about 3 tracks per album. It’s a mark of a good album when you iPod the whole thing and this was the case with Imogen Heap’s Ellipse.

Ellipse is a delight from beginning to end, the music mesmerising and flowing, but it’s chill-out with a bite. This is no collection of songs that is going to send you to sleep. As every track ends you await what follows with anticipation and intrigue. This is exquisite electronic layering of sound with synthesisers and classical instrument dancing together in rhythmic patterns.

Imogen Heap is such a huge talent; she produces, engineers, programmes, arranges, songwrites and sings. She could probably play most of the instruments as well (proficient at keyboards, guitar, strings, percussion) but does get the help from some big names here including Leo Abrahams, famous for his collaborations with Brian Eno and Nitin Sawhney, who has had four albums as a solo artist in his own right.

Imogen’s songwriting is mature, slightly oblique but well suited to the music that she writes. Who would expect straightforward lyrics with such complex music? Her voice is slightly husky but strong and powerful, and blends in beautifully with the instrumentation throughout. The immense vocal range is very evident on Swoon, one of my favourite tracks on the album. Other highlights are the intimate Between Sheets and the sublime Canvas.

This is the 32-year-old Londoner’s third solo album and in my mind her best. Her creativity is seemingly effortless and unending which augurs well for the next decade.