The year was unrelenting - we argued all the time

   

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's top 50 albums of 2022. 

#40 : Gold – Go Forward in the Courage of Your Love - Alabaster DePlume

One of the year’s most confronting albums didn’t deal in noise or aggression, but deeply insistent compassion. “Don’t forget you’re precious,” the Manchester jazz poet insists across Gold, one of the album’s many such mantras. These are hard messages for anyone inclined to self-criticism to hear – and DePlume (AKA Gus Fairbairn) counts himself among them, laying bare his struggle to remember his own worth. In doing so he dodges the sentimentality that might otherwise overwhelm a record that proceeds with both palms held upright to the sky. And the sincerity of his mission is evident in its real-world application, with the eerie rhythms, heart-caressing vocal harmonies and vulnerable horns imperceptibly stitched together from days of improvisation with various different ensembles. If we can’t remember that we’re precious, he seems to suggest, being in community with others might remind us.

I'm pretty certain if I'd ever heard of Alabaster DePlume then I'd remember that name, so I have no particular expectations for this - although I won't be surprised if it's somewhat peculiar.

And somewhat peculiar is most definitely one way of describing it.  And I'm trying to think of another, more helpful, way to describe it - but I'm coming up short.  It's just a very odd album indeed - he uses all sorts of sounds, including several that involve his voice making very unvoice like noises.  I get The Guardian's comments about it this being a compassionate album - at times it does feel a bit like he's giving you a hug.  However, I'm not entirely clear that everyone is going to want the hug - personally I didn't hate the album, but I don't think I can say much more about it.  I has some great track titles though - "Fucking Let Them", "I'm Gonna Say Seven", "Mrs Calamari" and "Now (Pink Triangle, Blue Valley)" not even being the weirdest ones.  I like the album cover though.

No, this hasn't charted and it doesn't have a Wikipedia entry but there is some information about it on his entry - he recorded it over a two week period by inviting different musicians into the studio every day without giving them time to rehearse and not letting them listen to results.  One critic described it as "both strangely uncomfortable and strangely comforting" and I can quite see that.  Wikipedia also tells us that Alabaster is "noted for his eccentric personality", but unfortunately the internet as a whole is lacking in any examples of said eccentricity.

"Customers also listened to" Joan As Police Woman, Sault and Lambchop - and from what I've heard, Alabaster is way weirder than any of them.  Another name that popped up was Richard Dawson, who I've only just learned about from Adam Buxton's podcast and he certainly seems to rival Alabaster's weirdness - Wikipedia tells us that one of his songs is about the time he "pierced his hand with a screwdriver attempting to crack a coconut shell while on a school trip".  Overall, I'm not sure I've really done Alabaster a service with my "description" of his album - I recommend it as an interesting listen, but I've got no idea if I actually liked it.

#39 : How Is It That I Should Look at the Stars - The Weather Station

Tamara Lindeman couldn’t have had any idea what was to come when she sat down at the piano from 10–12 March 2020 to record How Is It That I Should Look at the Stars. On the companion album to last year’s Ignorance, she weighs up what kind of uncertainty we can tolerate living with – and what the point of certainty is in a world in flux. Her conclusions, at least when it comes to politics and the environment, are less than reassuring. But she threads her anxieties with a resonant confidence that love, as unpredictable as it is, remains a risk worth investing in, the Joni-like spirit in her vocals undimmed.

I met The Weather Station in last year's list - my verdict was that I should have liked it more than I did.  And given that's all I have to go on, I'm expecting the same here.

And yeah, we're not far off that again.  It's all very understated and also feels pretty under-prepared, with flashes of potential but never quite getting there for me.  She's got a nice enough voice and the lyrics are quite poetic though - if you like your female singer-songwriters then it's worth checking her out because it might be your thing.

Unlike her previous album, this one didn't chart - Wikipedia makes the point that this album is very different from that one, which I suspected but didn't quite remember.  It also makes the point that it's very Joni Mitchell-like, which didn't occur to me because I'm not a Joni fan, but with hindsight I can see the likeness.

"Customers also listened to" Cassandra Jenkins, Tomberlin and Jana Horn - we've met Cassandra before (also in last year's list) and I do remember it sounding similar to this one.  I think if I was to listen to this a few more times I might come to appreciate some of its understated beauty - but I also might not.  Either way, it's not going to happen, so it's all a moot point.

An interesting pair of albums that don't quite click for me.

#42-41 - A contrasting pair of male voices
#38-37 - Somewhat different levels of success