Playlists

Hear/read about Uncut's key 19 records of the week

This week's big distraction has been what appears to be a crazy number of early Aphex Twin tracks accumulating on Soundcloud (I've added the link below). Among the new stuff, though, please try Bop English; the new solo project of James Petralli from White Denim.

Still at that stage of the year where I nearly type 2014 every time instead of 2015, but time moves on - swifter, perhaps, than Bjork for one would've liked this week, given how an unauthorised leak forced the release of "Vulnicura" a couple of months ahead of schedule.

Some fantastic new additions here, though it's been tough these past couple of days to navigate away from the playlist that Caribou posted on Youtube: 1,000 tracks that you're advised to play on shuffle. I keep getting Wire and J Dilla every time I dig in, but it's really a constant source of familiar pleasures and usefully contextualised new discoveries.

First off, a quick announcement that our latest Uncut Ultimate Music Guide will be out next week, dedicated this time to Radiohead. I'll write more about that soon, but in the meantime, while I'm finishing the next issue of Uncut itself, please dig in to the assembled tunes below.

Sorry I didn't manage to post a playlist last week; a combination of germs, deadlines and various other professional/seasonal distractions meant that I ran out of time.

First off, thanks for all your kind and indulgent comments about my 154 best albums of 2014 blog; I'm genuinely grateful and touched by the feedback.

To Cargo, earlier this week, for what I think might have been one of my favourite gigs of the year. I wrote about Xylouris White and their "Goats" album a few weeks ago, but even that excellent record was scant preparation for Jim White and George Xylouris' incandescent live show.

Very taken with Africa Express' version of "In C", by Terry Riley, this week. I have a few takes on the piece (50 years old this month, incidentally), the latest being one by Portishead's Adrian Utley from a couple of years back, though I still probably default to what I think is the original recording from '68.

I guess, since Uncut's end-of-year issue goes to the printers today, we should formally declare open season on Best Of 2014 speculation, if you're that way inclined. Our writers' charts fished up 401 new albums from the year worth voting for, and coalesced into a pretty eclectic Top 75, I think.