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Albums of the Year 2020

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here today albums of 2020

The way a lot of listen to music changed this year. Sometimes it was the distraction of everyday events that kept us from focusing, and sometimes it’s because the discovery of gigs or festivals felt only like a distant memory. But what this year lacked in live events — or over compensated with streaming events — it made up for in quality albums. In no particular order, our albums of the year:

Fiona Apple
Fetch the Bolt Cutters

Fiona Apple reappeared after an eight year absence with a record that was worth every minute of the wait. Fetch the Bolt Cutters would be captivating for its rhythmic patterns alone, but Apple’s lyrics offer a unique, clever, and forceful representation for women who have grown up and grown tired of the bullshit of everyday living. 

Resistance Revival Chorus
This Joy

The vitality of Resistance Revival Chorus’s This Joy might not resonate if you haven’t had to take to the streets this year. But if you’ve been at all sensitive to the social events sweeping the globe this year, the 60+ member chorus chanting and singing about change, acts of resistance, and the imperative of community is down right inspiring. If the futility of 2020 has dragged you down, This Joy is a much-needed shot of energy.

Kelly Lee Owens
Inner Song

Inner Song has a deeply reassuring steadiness to it. Whether it’s an insistent pulse driving a song forward or electronic tones ricocheting off of one another, Kelly Lee Owens has an uncanny sense of pacing. And underscoring her instincts are the intermittent uses of her vocals, which, in their rarity, have only a greater impact  — to say nothing of her collaboration with John Cale, which is all the more singular for how it cuts against the rest of the album.

Hen Ogledd
Free Humans

What started out as a side project of Richard Dawson and avant-harpist Rhodri Davies eventually mutated into a proper four-piece in Hen Ogledd. Free Humans has the charm and weirdness of a 70s sci-fi tv movie, allowing the group to indulge their squelchy synth side while also producing some pure pop gems in “Trouble” and “Crimson Star”.

Kate NV
Room for the Moon

Kate NV followed up the retro electronic minimalism of для FOR with the surprise (at least to those who haven’t heard her play in Moscow-based post-punks Glintshake) of Room for the Moon, a homage to the disjointed pop of the 80s. Think Tin Drum-era Japan, but equally and more directly Japanese City Pop by way of conceptualism. Maybe Yellow Magic Orchestra without the synths. Either way, good stuff.

The Necks
Three

Although the Necks will always be a band that demand to be witnessed live, the lockdown did give us a chance to appreciate their recorded output. Three is structured almost in reverse of one of their live shows, starting out with an urgent, shamanic rattling, before evolving into the enigmatic soundscapes of scratches and laments produced by percussionist Tony Buck. Showcasing both their swagger and their introspection, Three has been a constant companion during 2020s long evenings.

Ulcerate
Stare Into Death And Be Still

Admittedly, our adventures in death metal are only occasional, but when a band makes music that is distinctively their own, they have our interest. Ulcerate have developed a brutal, dense, complex and very atmospheric sound over the last two decades. Their sixth album is their most approachable to date. You might find it difficult, but it’s worth the effort.

Adrianne Lenker
songs / instrumentals

On her new album Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief once again shows what a brilliant songwriter she is. Her latest double album, songs / instrumentals, was recorded in a one-room cabin “that felt like the inside of a guitar”. It’s her with an 8-track tape recorder, a bit of rain, some ambient sounds, and a broken heart. It is an honest and raw album that sounds like being there, a very moving experience.

Phoebe Bridgers
Punisher

Even though Phoebe Bridgers is only 25 years old, she has already found voice of her own. On her second solo album Phoebe Bridgers perfects the fine songwriting that was to be found on her debut album Stranger in the Alps. It’s a beautiful collection of songs. Intimate, funny, clever and melancholic.

Jackie Lynn
Jacqueline

We’re here for any work Haley Fohr has to share, but it’s especially exciting to see Jackie Lynn become a fully-fledged wierdo pop project. With Bitchin’ Bajas’ irresistible beats and Fohr’s distinctive voice, Jackie Lynn has now found a place as an adventurous electronica outfit to match the outlaw character in front of it.

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FEATURE: Opening Night at Stairway

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dør nr. 13 live at stairway

Nearly six months after its originally scheduled launch, the new venue Stairway finally had its opening night. The space, located around the corner from the Metro in Vanløse, opened its doors with an afternoon-long reception on their roof deck (protected from the rain by a tarp) and with a free concert from Chorus Grant and Dør Nr. 13.

“I would say that those two bands, we booked them because they, in way, determined the direction that we are going to do the program at Stairway,” said Stairway booker Jeppe Greve when we spoke to him in June. “More established bands but still not mainstream-mainstream. It’s going to be different genres from hip-hop to rock music to hardcore, punk, electronic music.”

The long-anticipated restart of live music has required ingenuity from venues around the city and the country. In the case of Stairway, the space, which would normally hold 350 people, kicked off their program with 100 social-distanced seats. That does leave us imaging what the full potential of the room will be — when there won’t be a forced clearing between the sound desk and the bar — but it’s hard to complain about a civilized night out when everyone has enough elbow room.

chorus grant live at stairway copenhagen

Chorus Grant are indeed a good way to open the show, a mellow first performer on the stage. A band that could very easily be at home playing in theatres, their warm harmonies are a gentle way to ease us into the evening.

Dør Nr. 13 are seemingly endless in their energy, with their singer, [name] moving across the stage, limbs flailing. And this is where COVID precautions really feel like they’re keeping a cap on things. People are bopping around in their chairs, using the space available to clap with arms extended, but everyone dutifully stays seated. 

Two bands with such different sounds are a good introduction to a new space, and a good test of a new venue’s sound system. That Chorus Grant’s pattering snares are just as clear as Dør Nr. 13’s squelchy guitars does make for an exciting prospect of what Stairway will hopefully be home to.

“We’ve got a lot of the right ingredients to make a great venue and we don’t have neighbors around the corner to complain,” said Greve. “The way that we are doing stuff, it’s just down to earth, really cool, and we’re meeting people in the same level. Everyone is welcome. And hopefully there will be an atmosphere that just serves that — that everybody is welcome and very included, and that it’s a very inclusive place, both with the program and the space in general.”

Not to mention, at a time when venues are under threat and the way forward isn’t entirely clear, there is a chjoy in seeing a new space open. 

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LIVE REVIEW: Lucrecia Dalt, Alice, 01.08.2020

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lucrecia dalt live at alice copenhagen

At face value, daylight seems like the wrong setting for electronic music. When you come to associate performances with small, dark clubs, smoke machines, and projections, open air and sunlight seem like a mismatch. But perhaps that makes Lucrecia Dalt’s live set at Alice all the more novel.

Though Alice has been running their summer series for several weeks and other venues are putting outdoor space to use, there have still been precious few opportunities to see live music this summer — and even fewer opportunities to see artists not resident in Denmark. Dalt, from Colombia via Berlin, is a true novelty in that regard.

Whatever misgivings we may have had about the setting were dissipated by opener Grøn (cellist Bjarke Rasmussen). Backed by piano samples and looping his rough cello lines, his songs take on an escapist quality. Under the strong sun and with church bells and children shouting in the distance, his sparse compositions are a perfect set up for the afternoon.

Dalt is very lowkey when she takes the stage, jumping straight into her set. She fades in with rustling sounds, not drawing clear lines between her songs. Having thought of her mostly as a spoken word vocalist, it’s interesting to watch her add short, clipped, and often wordless vocals to her songs, which are looped and manipulated, making Dalt her own backing vocalist. The cascading sounds blur the differences between her indecipherable snatches of vocals and what was played on a synthesizer, each subsequent sound tumbling over the preceding one.

Dalt crossfades samples, bleeding one song into another like it’s an album mix, keeping her set choppy and constantly shifting. A consistent, low rustling sound runs through the set, surfacing during quieter songs, and it works well with the wind blowing and tree leaves and ivy vines shaking behind her (all credit to Alice’s sound team — for as windy as it was, that wasn’t what was getting picked up on the mics).

It’s hard not to imagine how this set might have been different in a club setting, how much loud (for better or worse) the sub-bass might have been indoors, if those loops of indistinguishable vocals and synths would have reverberated around a room. But removed from that more predictable element, this feels right. Dalt is in her rhythm from the outset, and though it’s only for a brief while, she allows us a brief escape to some other plane.

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LIVE REVIEW: Torres, Loppen, 10.03.2020

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Torres live at Loppen in Copenhagen

Torres isn’t a newcomer, but like many artists playing in Denmark for the first time, she’s amazed that people have heard of her. And while there are maybe 40 people at Loppen on a Tuesday, these are people who know her music well. It’s a crowd that cheers for older songs and that applauds for a little too long after every song.

Opener Katie Harkin — once the frontwoman of indie rockers Sky Larkin, lately of Courtney Barnet’s touring band — leads a formidable charge. She’s performing to a nearly-empty room, encouraging people to come forward in a time of social distancing, but she has a tremendous, warm stage presence. She gives us a taste of her debut solo album (simply under Harkin), stripped down to just her vocals and electric guitar. “It’s such a strange time to be traveling,” she says, introducing her new single and not knowing how much stranger things are going to get. “This is for all of us.”

When Torres takes the stage, it feels like a blast of all of the pent-up energy we know we need to preemptively get out of our systems. For all the seriousness of her songs, she jumps back and forth with a great playfulness while wearing a pair of cowgirl boots.

While there’s a heavy dose of crunchy rock from her earlier albums, the focus of the evening is on her new album, Silver Tongue. While programmed drums and synths keep things suitably unpredictable, it’s the pedal steel on these newer songs that lends them a real sense of drama, particularly on “Last Forest” and the album’s title track. This wide range of compositions from her more alt-rock previous albums to the complexly composed new release also gives Torres a chance to show the amazing breadth of her vocals. The extremes come out between the quiet whispers of “Gracious Day” and the full-throated yop of “Sprinter.” 

Torres also reveals the meaning behind the name Silver Tongue, an expression that refers to someone’s ability — for better or worse — to persuade others. “This is an album about persuading people to believe in the greater good,” she says.

We had a suspicion going into the evening that this would probably be the last gig we would go to for a while. Government recommendations have ensured that this is true. So until things start to resemble what we were used to, at least we can say that this was a show worth going out for. And until then, may we can hold onto the album’s sentiment.

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LIVE REVIEW: Moor Mother, Alice, 21.02.2020

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moor mother live at alice in copenhagen

Photos by Amanda Farah

It’s been close to a whole three years since the last time we caught up with Moor Mother, Camae Ayewa’s solo noise and spoken word project. In the meantime Ayewa has been keeping busy, releasing records with Irreversible Entanglements, ZONAL, and last year’s Moor Mother release, Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes. One thing that has very noticeably changed in the intervening years is the size of the crowd, which has doubled since that night in 2017.

The sonic pallet is still dark, twisted and pained, opening on a distorted, bassy synth drone, and accompanied a lonely, skittish violin. Ayewa’s vocals are low and urgent, more declamatory than rhythmic. “After Images” breaks into a martial kick drum, and marks the tension point between the punk confrontational part of Moor Mother and the gothic, reflective part.

Samples are also an integral part of Ayewa’s music, but they aren’t used in the looping manner of hiphop or techno. Instead the voices of the likes of Paul Robeson appear as ghostly presences that sit uncomfortably next to the noise. They could appear almost nostalgic next to the apocalyptic cacophony, if it weren’t for the obvious histories from which they speak.

The emphasis on time having stopped, of time being “held captive”, is embodied in those clips from spirituals and blues, and appears to situate Moor Mother very much in the Afro-goth tradition outlined by Leila Taylor in Darkly: Black History and America’s Gothic Soul.

But as mentioned above, there’s also a great physicality to Ayewa’s performance. Towards the end of the set she disappears into the crowd, purposefully stumbling into people, tying the crowd up in her mic cables. But that confrontational side is also tempered by empathy, a quick “are you ok?” as soon as the track draws to an end.

As if to disprove any assertions of bleak pessimism, Ayewa ends the evening by completely turning face, with a very short impromptu DJ set. Something like an exorcism at the end of this industrial séance.

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LIVE REVIEW: Isobel Campbell, Hotel Cecil, 14.02.2020

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isobel campbell live at hotel cecil copenhagen

“Thank you for remembering me,” says Isobel Campbell. “We didn’t do any press, so we worried only five people would show up.”

Looking around a reasonably full room at Hotel Cecil, this seems like classic understatement, a part of the performance from a singer-songwriter whose nearly-25 year career involved stints in a beloved indie rock band and a multi-album collaboration with a titan of alternative rock, to say nothing of her five solo records.

But Campbell has kept a low profile in recent years. Her latest album, There is No Other…, released this month, is her first in almost 10 years. The new songs are a feature of the evening, the 60s inspired folk patterns drawing out her whispery vocals.

Opener Nina Violet is backing her on viola, bass, and guitar, but where she really shines is on vocals. They perform several songs from Campbell’s collaborations with Mark Lanegan, with Violet taking over Lanegan’s vocals. In particular, Violet’s lead vocals on “Seafaring Song” and “Something to Believe” not only highlighted her abilities in a way her own songs don’t, but adds a completely different dynamic to Campbell’s songs; the harmonies become soft and rich, freed from the gravel of Lanegan’s timbre.

This performance is not part of a wild Friday night out. Most of the songs are quiet enough that you can hear Campbell’s guitarist tapping his foot while he plays and the most intense moment of the set might be the harmonics she plays on her cello for the outro of “Thursday’s Child.” But while Campbell is warm and teasing between songs, it’s the gentleness of her voice that draws everyone in, and that gentleness carries through the whole set.

Campbell reveals that her final song is the first one she ever wrote, back when she was 21 years old. She doesn’t mention that it was for the band where she got her start, nor does anyone in the audience seem to be demanding songs from a group that Campbell has now been out of far longer than she was ever a member of. Still, the delight in the room when she begins “Is It Wicked Not To Care?” is palpable. And it’s a consistent, low-key way for her to bring the evening to a close.

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LIVE REVIEW: Beak>, Loppen, 02.02.2020

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Geoff Barrow and Beak> live at Loppen Copenhagen

Photos by Amanda Farah

Bristol-based, kraut-rock-revivalists Beak> have finally shipped to Copenhagen, which means Loppen is heaving on a Sunday night. Lead by Geoff Barrow (him off Portishead), Beak> combine synths, bass and drums to create occult floor-stompers, pub psych and giallo-inspired soundtracks, sounding at times like Goblin after a really hard night out, at others like Tangerine Dream on a very tight budget.

What at first looks like a huge row of amplifiers turns out to be a light display, in equal measures trippy and tongue-in-cheek, as befits the three men on stage. Opening with “The Brazilian”, with its detuned synths and mastodontic descending bassline, we are projected into a 70s Italian crime movie, before settling into the hypnotic groove of “Brean Down”.

As synth player Will Young (no, not THAT one) downs a comically large can of Faxe, Barrow and bassist Billy Fuller read out negative youtube comments for their song “Eggdogg” (the highlight: “This is literally the worst combination of sounds in the history of the world”).

Beak> live at Loppen Copenhagen

In a live setting it’s much harder to separate older and newer material, since the evolution of Beak>’s latest record, 2018’s “>>>“, lay primarily in a much increased attention to production details. But the fluttering synth in “Allé Sauvage” is ever more frenetic live, and the caveman stomp of “Wulfstan II” is more brutal than ever.

Beak> really thrive in this setting, and even if their declaration that this has been their best concert in Denmark is a joke, it’s also a demand to check back in when they are next in town.

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LIVE REVIEW: Richard Dawson / Burd Ellen, Alice, 31.01.2020

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richard dawson live at alice copenhagen

Photos by Amanda Farah

Brexit day must be a strange time to be touring abroad as a British musician. From most you’d expect a bit of sheepishness (even a Leaver would feel a bit out of place, surely) and despondency. But tonight Richard Dawson and support act Burd Ellen deliver a blinder that breaks through the shackles of the present.

It’s a sold-out night at Alice, with a good proportion showing up early for Burd Ellen, in no small part buoyed by their set at Fanø Free Folk Festival last summer. The Scottish goth folk duo expand on their traditional repertoire with samplers, fiddles and DIY (and very literal) sound-sculptures. Gail Brogan (also of Pefkin) adds the eery backdrop for vocalist Debbie Armour’s fantastic voice, nowhere more clear and wrenching than in their rendition “Sweet Lemany”.

burd ellen live at alice copenhagen

Richard Dawson’s uniquely brutal fingerpicking guitar style and darkly funny lyrics have steadily gained him a substantial following since the release of his breakthrough album, Nothing Important. Since then the Newcastle-based folk singer has released a more acoustic-leaning concept album set in Northumberland after the retreat of the Roman Empire, as well as his latest record, 2020.

This is Dawson’s first concert in Denmark, so we can’t make any direct comparisons to his performances before he “went electric”, but the tracks from 2020 demonstrate a new rhythmic urgency. Accompanied by drums and bass, opener “Civil Servant” is a fuzzed-out song of complaint from the titular character, skipping work to avoid having to explain to “another poor soul/ why it is their Disability Living Allowance will be stopping shortly.”

Bleakness is everywhere in Dawson’s work, which means every little joke counts just that bit more. There is an audible chuckle at the mention of “the man in the vape shop” in “The Queen’s Head”, but the climactic moment comes with “Jogging”, starting with its Stooges-esque caveman stomp. This is Dawson at his emotionally complex core, a tale of someone suffering from anxiety who takes up jogging as a way to cope. The catharsis of the chorus matches musical euphoria with gnawing doubt: “I know I must be paranoid / but I feel the atmosphere / round here getting nastier.” The jogging might work, but that doesn’t stop the place from getting worse.

It’s a lyrical downer but physically exhilarating, and without doubt one of the best sets Alice has hosted in its two-year history. We’ll be needing a lot more Richard Dawson in the years to come.

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LIVE REVIEW: Tusks, Ideal Bar, 18.02.2020

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Tusks live at Ideal Bar Copenhagen

It’s an evening of firsts for Tusks. It’s the band’s first gig of the tour. It’s frontwoman Emily Underhill’s first time in Denmark. It’s their guitarist’s first ever show with the band. And for most people in the crowd it will be their first gig of the year, starting off mellow and broody.

Though usually presented as Underhill’s solo project, Tusks are on stage at Ideal Bar as a fully-formed outfit. The difference this presents between the album recordings is immediate. Though there is plenty of guitar on Tusks’ albums, they are much more prominent here — which is before you account for synth track “Bleach” being reinterpreted for guitar in this set. 

There is a bedroom recording quality to Tusks’ output, but that feeling is absent here. Despite a laptop, a synth, a tablet set on an amp, and a whole mess of pedals, there is nothing swampy about the music. This is in large part because the vocals and drums are prominent rather than buried under reverb. There are still some chill out moments, as when they play “Mind,” and people are dancing in their own contorted ways.

That prominent, individual feeling of each instrument reshapes some songs in significant ways. Penultimate songs “Salt” has lost the softness of its recording and is instead strongly rhythmic. The synth lines are clearer, there is an extra floor tom, and the tune on the whole is more energetic and exciting.

It’s not an isolated moment; “Last” is only the second song in the setlist, but the band attack it with an energy usually reserved by performers for their final piece. Underhill pulls a similar trick for “Avalanche” when, after a quiet introduction, she counts her band in with a mischievous smile for a thunderous outro. It underlines the difference between Underhill the producer and Underhill who fronts a rock band. The version of Tusks she brings to the stage is more approachable, more dynamic, but exudes the same coolness. 

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Albums of the Year 2019

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Image result for cate le bon reward

Cate Le Bon
Reward

Having strayed from her signature guitar style into more textural, synth-based compositions, Cate Le Bon has found new ways to highlight her cool voice. Mostly down-tempo, occasionally punctuated by brass instruments, it’s a different approach but continues Le Bon’s quirky inclinations. We’re not entirely sure why this album is the album that made the world realize how wonderful she is, but are glad everyone else has caught up. 

Image result for kim gordon no home record

Kim Gordon
No Home Record

On her long-awaited solo debut, Kim Gordon taps into the Sonic Youth-style alt-rock that she built her career on. A little left-field but still catchy, Gordon calls on strong rhythms, whispered and raspy vocal deliveries, and a broader range of dynamics than much of her recent work. But when she does lean into the noise she’s so well versed in, it takes on weirdly soothing, meditative qualities.

Image result for lizzo cuz i love you album cover

Lizzo
Cuz I Love You

It was a good year for albums about the end of the world. But if you wanted an album that actually made you feel good about yourself, Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You was it. This was the album for Lizzo to lean fully into being a pop singer, and the result is full of celebration and killer hooks. Whether she’s telling a boy off, contemplating running the world, or just feeling herself for being fabulous, Lizzo’s party is the party we want to go to.

Image result for alexander tucker guild of the asbestos weaver

Alexander Tucker
Guild of the Asbestos Weaver

Anyone familiar with Tucker’s work as Grumbling Fur (together with Daniel O’Sullivan) will instantly recognise his signature kitchen-sink-sci-fi. On opener “Energy Alphas” a warm, buzzy bass drone weaves around Tucker’s plain-but-sweet chants and hissing drum machines. Formally minimalist but rich in texture (particularly with the treated strings that appear throughout the rest of the record), Guild of the Asbestos Weaver is a beautifully enigmatic haven.

Image result for jenny hval the practice of love

Jenny Hval
The Practice of Love

Jenny Hval’s latest work still features her airy, laid-back vocals and meditative synth-pop, but these are brought into a more conversational setting, juxtaposed with spoken word sections and snippets of interviews with other female artists. “High Alice” and “Ashes to Ashes” have that late night mixture of elation and anxiety previously found in “Female Vampire”, but the central and eponymous track somehow manages to achieve a similar effect by layering voices speaking over and against and through each other.

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Fat White Family
Serfs Up!

The excesses and controversies of the Family have always overshadowed their music, but since moving out of London and playing in several off-shoot bands, they are back armed with cartloads of bangers. Opener “Feet” is pure Pet Shop Boy histrionic dance anthem with a pounding synth line and a string section, whereas “Tastes Good With the Money” shows a lighter side, with a glam stomp and Baxter Dury channelling a cockney Serge Gainsburg.

Image result for aldous harding designer

Aldous Harding
Designer

If you listen to Designer distractedly it might simply come across as pleasant, but if you have ever seen Aldous Harding play live you’ll know there is a taught energy undercutting all her work. Wide open eyes, a twitch at the edges of the mouth, something off-kilter with the laid-back vocals. You can hear it in the broken shuffle of “Designer”, and in the quiet background noises of “Damn”.

Big Thief
U.F.O.F

The first of Big Thief’s ambitious two-album release for the year, U.F.O.F. has all of the delicate qualities associated with their work. What feels significant is that frontwoman Adrienne Lenker has found a way to convey intimacy beyond fragility. Still vulnerable, but with a new sense of strength, U.F.O.F. will pull you in as close as you’ll let it.

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