Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Two albums that I missed

As I was flicking through a play list just after Christmas, I realised that in my post-infection state, I had left out two of 2014's overlooked masterpieces. So my festive 15 is swelling to 17 (maths never was my strong suit!)

In the car, I found School of Language's second outing Old Fears. School of Language is the side project of the other Field Music maestro, David Brewis. Like his brother, Peter (are they twins?), him of the wonderful Frozen by Sight (who were magnificent at St Giles on the Friday before Christmas), David is full of great tunes, wonderful hooks, quirky time signatures and intriguing lyrical invention. This second School of Language album (of whom the only member is David Brewis) is very different from the first but equally wonderful.

And then, I forgot to include the Pearlfishers Open up Your Colouring Book. This is a ravishing aural treat, 16 songs by Glasgow's David Scott. Again, he writes great pop tunes, pens absorbing lyrics and wraps it all up in wonderful arrangements. He is a hidden treasure who should be getting much more acclaim than he does. The album, was launched without trace in April, greeted by barely a murmur in the music press. There's no justice! It follows hard on the heels of 2007's sublime Up with the Larks, one of my all time favourite albums and a regular soundtrack to long car journeys in the sunshine. If you have not spent an hour with the Pearlfishers, please do because you'll feel so much better for it.

These are both worthy additions to your playlists/CD/album collections

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