
C'est moche de vieillir : je pas trouvé grand chose d'excitant musicalement en 2012 (ouch). Il y a eu des albums attendus décevants (dan deacon, fanfarlo) voire horrib' (Crystal Castles), des albums attendus très bons (Lawrence Arabia, Field Music) voire grandioses (Tame Impala), des trucs que je pensais pas aimer sur la longueur (Ariel Pink, The Chap) et assez peu de petits nouveaux au final, même s'ils sont beaux (Gomina) et chauds (Mac DeMarco). Pas un mauvais bilan donc, juste un piti peu de lassitude quoi... Taupe Album 2012 [...]

2012 ne fut pas une année musicale pourrie mais pas une grandiose non plus. J'ai eu du mal à choisir un top 1, j'ai même pendant quelques instants hésité à commencer mon top au top 2... Mais bon, le vainqueur est beau puisque c'est Field Music qui gagne. Wouaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iis! Même si ce n'est pas le meilleur album des frères « dieux » Brewis, il est au dessus du lot (46). Les chansons singulières sont toujours là mais c'est surtout leur style qui a fait la différence: aucun [...]

I have loafed about this Christmas - reading, drinking, watching films and generally living the life, which has been great, but now I find myself with just a few hours in which to throw this together… To be honest, it feels like I’ve already done this once already having been asked to nominate five 2012 records for the January Lpgrp session. I managed it with some difficulty (particularly as my Lpgrp line manager made me nominate one to be the best of them all – wild stab…), so seven should be a piece of (Christmas) pudding, eh? [...]

Chez les anciens, comme moi, le top des morceaux de l'année prend la forme d'une compilation cd... Il y a des avantages: on a tout de même 80 minutes à remplir. Il y a des inconvénients: on peut pas en mettre plus de 80 minutes de musique dessus. Il y a parfois des choix draconiens à faire. Ils furent faits (par exemple, j'aurais bien mis Kopter de Toy mais j'ai dû me rabattre sur Lose My Way qui est bien quand même...). Les titres sont enchaînés [...]
This was an excellent year for melodic rock and indie-alternative pop. I didn't have time to rank everything, but I did want to make another list for you, these are albums that I've enjoyed but I didn't have time to review. More overlooked gems will be reviewed this week. Amiee Mann - Charmer . She's been making music since the 802s, and this LP is full of her articulate pop smarts, with a vocal as sweet as ever. [...]
Over the past seven years Field Music has kept busy with four critically-acclaimed studio albums, a b-side compilation, solo albums from each of its members, and now a cover album. Play pays tribute to seven of the band’s influences with imaginative reworking of songs by the Pet Shop Boys, Tennant and Lowe, John Cale, Roxy Music, Leonard Cohen, Syd Barrett and the Beatles. Play is a spirited album that showcases the Field Music’s experimentation and genre blending arrangements. A few standouts include: Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne”, Tennant and Lowe's “Rent”, Syd Barrett’s “Terrapin”, and The Beatles’ “Don’t Pass Me By.” All-in-all, [...]
As voted for by State's ever expanding team of writers and photographers, this year's end of term album report continues with a mix of British and US names - along with one notable Irish entry. We'll be back in the morning with the top 30. 40. Mystery Jets - Radlands Esoteric Londoners head west. 39. Lianne La Havas - Is Your Love Big Enough UK soul takes another leap. 38. Field Music - Plumb [...]
It’s that time of year when every music website, publication and blog (including this one) are busy compiling end of year lists. This time around, I thought I’d shift the focus to the bands and artist’s who’ve played a ‘BarryGruff Presents’ show this year and ask them for their ‘favourite album of 2012′, ‘favourite song [...]

#50 to #41 // #40 to #31 // #30 to #21 // #20 to #11 // #10 to #1 ------------------------------ ------------ 30. Scott Walker - Bish Bosch Scott Walker's early days with The Walker Brothers were marked by beautifully orchestrated pop songs like " Make It Easy On Yourself ". When his remarkable solo career kicked off in 1967 with Scott , it initially showed very much of the same. But with each successive release, his music became darker, the themes heavier, and [...]
Here it is. I know you'll hate it; I know you'll disagree, but that's not the point in making an arbitrary list. We here at ATH worked really hard to fit in the tastes of the four of us, and when we decided upon our Top 50, it really boied down to simple math. What albums did we love when they came out? Do we still enjoy spinning those records months later? If they're in the Top 50, then the asnwer is probably yes. I mean, our Top 2 records came out in January, and still play a vital part [...]
Field Music are a real enigma. Nominees for this year's Mercury Music Prize, like most who appear on the list they occupy a strange place somewhere between cult band and the mainstream. A hotchpotch of clanging riffs with prog leanings, their music isn't all that original. Their music isn't all that groundbreaking either. Plenty of other artists have used similar instruments to similar effect. And their music, like plenty of artists before them, is not that well-known outwith those in the know (think this generation's XTC). But their music is colossal. And tuneful. And therefore radio-friendly. And by rights they should [...]

Memphis Industries It's been interesting tracking the musical evolution of El Perro Del Mar , the musical project of Sweden's Sarah Assbring. Her 2006 self-titled debut cast her as the mournful ghost of a '50s doo-wop girl while the 2008 follow-up From The Valley To The Stars invited fuller arrangements into the mix - even getting jaunty at points - while keeping the sentiments beautifully downcast. 20092s Love Is Not Pop was took great strides towards feeling more modern, mostly via studio-slick musical [...]

This year's Barclaycard Mercury Prize will be announced at a ceremony tonight (1 November) at the Roundhouse in London, and The Line Of Best Fit shall be there, schmoozing, tweeting and probably having one too many glasses of whatever complementary drinks are on offer. To keep up with all the news live from the event, as well as photos and indie celeb-spotting exclusives, follow @BestFitMusic on Twitter or 'like' our official Facebook page . Who will Best Fit be rooting for on the night, we hear [...]
Oct 18, 2012, 9:51am
SGTMT

Tweet Well, we don't know yet. The winner of the Mercury Music Prize 2012 isn't announced till the 1st November. You all knew that already right? Or perhaps we fooled you in the way that over lunch you might point out the window and shout; 'Look, bear!' so that you can steal your eating companions cheese sandwich. How do we think will win? No idea. Every year I have my favourite and they NEVER win. Certainly my fav on this list [...]
Bon, ok, j'exagère sans doute un peu... Mais, soyons clairs, Overgrown path (2012/Captured Tracks), le premier LP de Chris Cohen, est peut-être l'album de l'année... Ce disque est un petit miracle. Dans la forme, Overgrown path apparaît comme un mélange ... Suite

There has always been something beautifully modest about Field Music . Over the past decade they've seemingly gone about their business in an almost reticent way; quietly and assuredly recording the songs and records that they want to make, never once pondering whether they were going about things in ' the right way '. Which, of course, is absolutely the way it should be and is also what gives the band such inherent charm. Thankfully for us, the band mostly make correct decisions. This years Plumb was a stunning addition to their expanding collection [...]

Frank Yang For most bands, an EP is a stopgap between albums meant to keep their name out there, their fans appeased, and to buy some more time while they work on the next proper full-length. For Scotland's Frightened Rabbit , their new State Hospital short-player was an excuse to stop work on their third album, jet across the Atlantic and play a batch of North American dates. They kind of did the same thing last Summer, though A Frightened Rabbit EP was less an excuse to tour than [...]
Field Music "Terrapin" Field Music's approach to covering this wonderful old Syd Barrett solo song is to essentially toss out most of the elements that made it very Barrett and remodel it as a late period Beatles pastiche. And hey, it worked! I love the dazed-out quality of Barrett's recording, but the sharp dynamics of the Brewis brothers' arrangement brings out the best of the song's melody. You lose some things, sure – "I really love you, and I mean you" comes off better from a man who sounds totally disconnected from reality – but you [...]

tornano i Field Music - dopo l’album Plumb , uscito a Febbraio - con una raccolta di cover, che verrà pubblicata da Memphis Industries il prossimo 15 ottobre. anticipiamo qui i primi tre brani degli otto in scaletta - Terrapin di Syd Barrett, Born Again Cretin di Robert Wyatt, e Heart dei Pet Shop Boys:

Field Music , regardless of their continuous under-the-radar status for a group with 4 albums (6 to those who include The Week That Was and School Of Language under the Field Music umbrella) since 2004, are a band who, by their cult fanbase's standards, just don't stop getting better. So at last their tenure as one of the most under-recognised and under-rated groups of the last decade looks to be coming to an end - the shortlisting of this year's opus, Plumb , in the Mercury Prize Albums of the Year finally signals a long [...]