Lots to dig into this week, not least a song to sample from the Hiss Golden Messenger album that I’ve been alluding to for so long. Strong Ronnie Lane vibes there, perhaps. Among some biggish new entries here, some lesser known names to check out, too: Jennifer Castle; 75 Dollar Bill’s weird adaptation of desert blues; the new Blonde Redhead album that increasingly feels like their strongest in an age; and Hurray For The Riff Raff, magnificent on Letterman.
Hey, here are my 154 favourite albums of 2014. As usual, I haven't aimed for a fixed number; just listed everything, in a loose order, that I've enjoyed these past 12 months.
Vile day here in London, improved to some degree I'd hope by the arrival in UK shops of the new edition of Uncut. It has Nick Drake on the cover, as you probably know if you're a subscriber and your copy arrived over the weekend.
The story of Drake as an uncompromising musical visionary is told by Joe Boyd, John Wood, Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings, Beverley Martyn and more who knew the singer-songwriter.
Last week, just as I was finishing off the 25th playlist of the year, the new Steve Gunn album arrived. This week, the last-minute radical guitar hero is Chris Forsyth, whose first studio album with the Solar Motel Band is absolutely killing it as I type.