Posts Tagged The Week That Was

Albums of the Year

Dec 5

Posted by misterfusty in Other Music Articles | 1 Comment

There’s been a lot of great albums released this year, so I thought I’d post what I think what were my favourites. I’ve not listened to every album released this year of course, so there are probably lots of great ones that have passed me by, but out of what I did hear these are the cream of the crop, in no particular order (because I couldn’t decide which was my favourite!).

Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes

An amazing debut with beautful harmonies, like an otherworldly Crosby, Stills & Nash crossed with the Beach Boys.

Dr. Dog – Fate

I’ve only recently discovered these guys, they sound like Wilco crossed with late-period Beatles.This or theFleet Foxes album would be my favourite of the year.

Paul Weller – 22 Dreams

I’ve dipped in and out of Weller’s solo career, mostly off of late, but this is a corker. An eclectic masterpiece.

The Ruby Suns – Sea Lion

This too is very eclectic and a hugh improvement on their debut album. It often goes off at tangents but in a good way!

The Week That Was – The Week That Was

The second off-shoot from the excellent Field Music chaps, this one I think was the better of the two albums released by the Brewis brothers this year. Mixes 1980′s influences without sounding deliberately retro or naff.

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular

A great pop record reminiscent of The Flaming Lips. A bright future is assured.

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American Music Club – The Golden Age

How Mark Eitzel and his band are not bigger than they are bemuses me. One of the great American songwriters this is a slow burn winner

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Jim Noir – Jim Noir

More lo-fi mastery from Mister Jim. It’s a shame this seemed to pass everyone by.

REM – Accelerate

The hackneyed old critic phrase, “return to form”, seemingly always occurs when REM release an album these days. None more so that this one. Apart from their last weak album, “Around the Sun”, they’ve never really dipped in form. This is a belter.

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Cardinology

Probably the best Ryan Adams record since Love is Hell.

Elvis Costello – Momofuku

Another to file in the category of veterans producing the goods this is also Elvis’ best record in several years.

Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun

As with Elvis this also proves there’s still life in Brian yet. Bar “Smile”, this is his best solo work.

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Week That Was

Aug 25

Posted by misterfusty in Other Music Articles | No Comments

The Week That Was

The Week That Was is the second offshoot album from UK band Field Music, who are brothers Peter and David Brewis plus keyboardist Andrew Moore.

The Sunderland based group, formed in 2004, are one of the brightest hopes for British music. Their two albums of intelligent and unique pop music delighted both critics and fans alike, so it was to some dismay that the band announced their ‘hiatus’ last year. Although, cheeky monkeys that they are, the band were not splitting after all , merely persuing other projects. In fact the two albums produced since that announcement, School of Language‘s “Sea from Shore” and The Week That Was‘s eponymous LP, are essentially Field Music, with all three band members (plus others) taking part. It’s only in the songwriting department where things differ, with the former a collection of David’s songs and the latter Peter Brewis’s being the subject of this review.
Both albums contain material less immediately poppy and more experimental than that found on the Field Music albums, they are no less interesting and indeed offer more and more with each listen.

“The Week That Was” has more of a concept to it and is less guitar orientated than “Sea from Shore“. While Field Music’s influences range from XTC to White album-era-Beatles, this is very much influenced by the artier end of 1980s pop, artists like Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. Marimbas and Linn drums are dominant, whilst an airy string section helps heighten the atmosphere.

Lyrically this is a loose concept inspired by the novels of Paul Auster and Peter Brewis’s own experience cutting himself off from all media for a week, losing the fragments of information that TV, newspapers and the radio gives us and the feelings that this creates, letting yourself go uninformed. Each song is a musical moment, a fragment of a story we don’t know.

It’s a very ambitious album and confirms the bright prospect that Peter Brewis is as an arranger, producer and songwriter. Field Music may be over for the time being but they are far from being the band that was.

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