Paradox One
THE
FESTIVE 40 - The Best Of 2007!
In no particular
order and omitting ones I haven’t heard yet but have heard
good things about like Robert Wyatt’s ‘Comicopera’
and Ben Weaver’s ‘Paper Sky’. Come to think of
it I haven’t heard The Flower Kings latest opus yet either!
ANEKDOTEN
“A Time of Day” (Possibly their best to date).
GWYN ASHTON “Prohibition” (Some great
blues rock)
BIG SLEEP “Bluebell Wood” (originally
released in 1971 but new to me!)
BOB BROZMAN “Post Industrial Blues”
(Amazing guitar sounds!)
CARPTREE “Insekt” (Continue to develop
as one of the top prog rock bands)
ROGER CHAPMAN “One More Time for Peace”
(A return to form)
CLEAR BLUE SKY “Gateway to the Seventh Dimension”
(Nice package!)
D’ARCANA “Premonitions” (double
CD) (Amazing presentation, amazing music!
RAY DAVIES “Working Man’s Café”
(Amazingly a give away with a Sunday newspaper! His Electric Proms
concert wasn’t half good either!)
DR WILL “Itching Again” (Thanks to
Tim and Terri for introducing me- sorry I didn’t get around
to reviewing it. One of the best albums of 2007 to me invoking the
spirit of Beefheart, Waits, Mississippi John Hurt and most of all
Dr Will’s unique take on life and music!)
DUTY FREE AREA “Kaleidoscope” double
CD (Two albums with live bonus- bafflingly good progressive rock!
(Talking of Kaleidoscope, their –the psych band that is- vinyl
reissue of ‘Beacons from Mars’ is a highlight)
EGG “The Civil Surface” Another of
my all time favourite bands resurfaces on Esoteric Recordings
FAR CORNER “Endangered” (Challenging
but also heartwarming).
SUE FOLEY, DEBORAH COLEMAN, ROXANNE POTVIN “Time
Bomb” Three of Ruf’s finest blues ladies together!
FROMUZ “Audio Diplomacy” (CD/DVD) (Stunning
concert from brilliant Uzbekistan group)
HAMFATTER “What Part of Hamfatter Do You
Not Understand?” (A hit single at last!)
HUGH HOPPER “Hopper Tunity Box” (Another
oldie but goodie!)
JUST JACK “Overtones” (Not my usual
thing but cleverly done and nicely satirical take on modern life)
PETER LACEY “Permanent Waves” (Brian
Wilson fans know where to go!)
MAGIC PIE “Circus of Life” (Becoming
a top prog rock band)
MAN “Do You Like It Here Now, Are You Settling
In?” +3 (originally released in 1971)
MAN “Live at the Padget Rooms, Penarth”
(double CD) (another oldie brought back to live with bonus)
ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE “The Black Tomato”
(Their best yet)
PALADIN “Paladin” (Another oldie that
was new to me)
RARE BIRD “As Your Mind Flies By” (Esoteric
reissue) (An oldie, more familiar to me but as Rare Bird is one
of my all time favourite bands I couldn’t resist!)
REVEREND AND THE MAKERS “The State of Things”
(Satirical take on modern life, saw them on Jools Holland)
ROOT DECO “Rain, Steam, Speed” (Timely
reminder of what a good band they are)
SHAY TAL “Tambourina” (Something a
bit different!)
THE SHINS “Wincing The Night Away”
(not sure this is an improvement on previous impressive releases
but the best bits are among their finest)
SIGUR ROS “Hvart/ Heim” (double CD)
(Soundscapes that would only fail to move a statue!)
SILVER LINING “The Inner Dragon” (By
way of a belated apology to Thierry Sportouche- have been promising
to review his band’s melodic prog concept opus for two years.
Its moment will come!)
JOHN SLADE BAND “Broken Finger” (Zappa
fans will drool. Clever stuff!)
SPACE DEBRIS “Three”/ “Live at
Burg Herzberg Festival” (OK, the latter is a DVD but as always
a great nostalgia trip!)
SPACE RITUAL “Otherworld” The spirit
of Hawkwind returns!
UNDERGROUND BALLROOM “Contradictions”
Their ‘Drawing The Line’ has remained on my MP3 player
for most of the year.
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR “Transmissions”
A live performance of the entire ‘Godbluff’ album and
the whole of A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers live as a bonus- bliss!
VARIOUS ARTISTS “As Good As It Gets: The
Best of British Jazz 1951-1957” (I discovered a new name-
Cy Laurie!) (Also superb linked releases featuring the talents of
Humphrey Lyttleton, Chris Barber and Ken Colyer)
VARIOUS ARTISTS “Stone Island Records”
(Welcome to a new label featuring old friends Census of Hallucinations,
Clear Blue Sky and new acts)
WILCO “Sky Blue Sky” (double CD) (The
album I always knew they were capable of!)
STEVE WILSON “Sideshows and Fairytales”
Some great songs on there.
Thanks to all
the labels and individuals who have sent music to review in 2007
including Record Heaven, Joyce at Cuneiform, Vicky at Esoteric,
Golly Gallagher and Ruf Records, Stone Island Records (in particular
Tim and Terri), Leonardo at Moon June, Guy at Carbon 7 Simon at
Pink Hedgehog and Thierry for my regular reviewing job at Acid Dragon.
Was it a good year- you bet!
With apologies for any recommended releases and labels I’ve
missed (and there must be a few!)
Please
e-mail me at phil@paradoxone.co.uk
for further information on any of these albums
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