lefreeakblog

   --  a short update on what I'm listening to  --    THE start of a new year always brings with it fresh hope, and music is no different, whether it's the tantalising promise of new music from your favourite artist or a certain song that seems to resonate, January tends to evoke a different, more reflective mood...which brings me to Crowded House.       Born in the early Eighties, I missed this antipodean band first time round but always knew a few of their big hits and it was after I turned on the radio and heard 'Don't Dream It's Over', arguably their best song and surely one of the best Eighties singles, that intrigue got the better of me and I picked up Spotify to take a closer look. And now years later after briefly listening to them before, it clicked - it's always at the turn of the year - but why?       I think it's because in songs such as 'Weather With You' and 'Distant Sun', their singer and chief songwriter Neil Finn (above)

Following the  first part of my 2021 review, below is a breakdown of my ten favourite albums of the year as well as a quick overview of songs which I enjoyed: Favourite 10 Albums of the Year 1. Blank & Jones -   Relax Edition 13 At the forefront of the late-90s rise in trance, the German duo of Piet Blank & Jaspa Jones turned to ambient thereafter with the release of their Relax series. This is the latest, a double album of chillout, tasteful funky house and balearic beats and a much needed tonic for lockdown despondency in 2021 - my choice for best album of 2021. 2. St. Vincent -   Daddy's Home A concept album about her father's return from prison, this album's real treat though is how Annie Clark recalls the atmosphere of early seventies downtown New York, the sleaze, the dirt, the funk. A melting pot of Lou Reed, Bowie, Steely Dan even Beatles (on the psychedelic Sun King-esque Live The Dream). 3. Cleo Sol -   Mother The singer in the mysterious London based col

  IT was the year that a pandemic allowed geeks the chance to shine. Amidst a severe restriction on live performance,  super-fans were busy viewing, cutting and editing together film of their favourite artists and readying them for blockbuster release, funded  by an ever increasing demand and driven by competition from the streaming wars.       With time to kill, we were allowed to indulge ourselves in a number of gems, with Peter Jackson's "The Beatles: Get Back" , Questlove's  "Summer of Soul"  both on Disney+ and Todd Haynes'  "The Velvet Underground"  on Apple TV+ all released to great acclaim.       Each of these documentaries covered the late sixties, part of the analogue era when very little film was actually recorded, in sharp contrast to today where it is so ubiquitous. And it looks we will see more and more as super-fans endeavour to unearth rare footage and bring fans young and old upto date with classic artists who will have had ver