Free The Beasts: 2013's best albums

1. Big Wheel and Others - Cass McCombs

"I believe in littering, waste should not be hidden but seen."

2. Pale Green Ghosts - John Grant

"I should have practiced my scales. I should not be attracted to males"

3. A Wonder Working Stone - Alasdair Roberts 

"See the deniers they bring a demeaning, religion that rose from the sewers of Rome"

4. Jonathan Wilson - Fanfare

"So now violence and intolerance disappear as energy"

5. Float Along - Fill Your Lungs - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

6. About Farewell - Alela Diane

"Here I will wait out the storm, killing time on the fringes again."

7. The Sun Dogs - Rose Windows 

8. Time Off - Steve Gunn 

"Past and present and future cease"

9. Loud City Song - Julia Holter 

"Bang bang"

10. Hirta Songs - Alasdair Roberts & Robin Robertson


"Too old now and too few"

11. Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time - Steve Mason 


"This is what you find when you are here to see it all"

12. Get There - Minor Alps

"In the end you found me and we were rebuilding"

13. Hobo Rocket - Pond

"And if you motherfuckers don't like it you can all get out"

14. Bright Sunny South - Sam Amidon

15. Indigo Meadow - The Black Angels

"Hey little darlin' you're a dreamer"

16. The Flower Lane - Ducktails

"Fill the lock and turn the key"

17. The Ash & Clay - The Milk Carton Kids

"Graceland is a ghost town tonight"

18.  Anarchic Breezes - Grim Tower

"Who do you love if it ain't me?"

19. Monomania - Deerhunter

"I'm a poor boy from a family"

20. Pools - Zeahorse

A Final Word On The Year That Was...

I have a friend who is a list maniac. He loves to make lists. His lists are his children. He recently made a list of the top live shows from 2010, and given that 2010 was a year that saw me visiting many countries in the name of music, I thought I would do the same. Such an exercise seems to be more worthwhile than the humdrum live review, as this can act as a pointer towards who is good, rather than account of something that has already happened. So...

1. Nils Bech - Slottsfjell Festival, Norway
Disco-opera boy prancing in tight denim as the sun sets.



2. Rufus Wainwright - Kaufleuten, Zurich
'Song-cycle' show, in beautiful theatre, complete with belly-ups during 'The Dream'.



3. John Grant - Green Man Festival
Included an acappella version of 'Chicken Bones', in the rain.



4.The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Abart, Zurich
They didn't seem like they could care less, which made them just too attractive.



5. Yeasayer - Exil, Zurich
The first time I saw the new album live, and was happy.



6. Pavement, Primavera Festival
Finally saw a comeback show, splendid it was.



7. Mayer Hawthorne, Abart, Zurich
He said he had eaten the best meal of his life at Abart.



8.The Black Angels, The Borderline
Too hot to breathe, soulful nonetheless.



9. Field Music, Great Scott, Allston, Mass
Tiny audience but the Brewis brothers on special form.



10. Sleepy Sun, Green Man Festival
One of the last shows before Rachel left.



11.Tame Impala, Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Biggest ever show in Sydney. They slowed everything down, still sounded okay.



12. Crowded House, New Theatre, Oxford
Blissful, including cover of Bowie's 'Moonage Daydream'



13. Built To Spill, Dynamo, Zurich
Second on the bill to Dinosaur Jr, which seemed unholy.



14. The Besnard Lakes, Green Man Festival
One of the best sets of this year's Green Man



15. Scout Niblett, Primavera
Utterly flabbergasted to find I like her.



16. Little Feat, Cropredy Festival
Dayglo t-shirts and all.



17. The Dixie Bee Liners - Cropredy Festival
Very pleasant surprise on a miserable day, with a largely miserable line-up.



18. MV + EE, La Case a Chocs, Neuchatel
Perfect tiny space for the woozed-out couple.



19. Dr Dog, Primavera
New material is good, but it was the Fate stuff that did the job.



20. Monotonix, Primavera
It's Monotonix, which should offer an explanation of this set.

Repairs to the Mothership

I have finally managed to give my website a thorough updating, adding a number of features and reviews I managed to do over the last 12 months for the likes of The Stool Pigeon, The Quietus and R2.

Among these morsels are interviews with songwriter fellows John Grant and Kevin Barker, fantastic Canadians The Besnard Lakes, dirge-psych band Carlton Melton, and rather more leftfield artisans Surf City and Giana Factory.

I can offer reviews of albums by The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, Phosphorescent, Faun Fables, The Black Angels, Alasdair Roberts and two from Elliott Smith - the Introduction To... and the reissue of Roman Candle.

And finally, flying in the face of the ongoing pointlessness of live reviews, a write-up of two festivals - Green Man 2010 and Slottsfjell 2010, and The Black Angels' Borderline show last year.