2014: The Music Grid

„Yes, there is something in his sounding which reminds of you.

I’m starting this post in the beginning of December, in one of the insomniac nights I’ve been having recently .

This year was rich in music discoveries and I want to point out some of them, which has left the deepest traces.

Starting from the winter February (I suppose), I stumbled across James Blake. Life around here, Overgrown and Retrograde took me so much, I was listening to them for days without stop. I think I still relate the feeling for winter with them. Around that time, or few weeks earlier I (re?)found London Grammar which were my utmost favourites for that time, but gradually merged down in the course of time.

Then, a kairotic friend convinced me to go for Spotify and that probably was one of the best things I’ve done. We are already in March, and just before the trip to Ukraine, preparing and revising Ukrainian, I started exploring more the most famous Ukrainian group Okean Elzy and fell for this song from their last album.

Back from Ukraine, just before leaving for the country to celebrate Easter with my family, K. sent me the newest track from Lana del Ray [if you haven’t hated me for listening to her reading this, then do it now]. The wonderful ‘video‘ (actually only one scene from the real one on repeat) along with the hypnotizing vibe, the play with the rhythm-shift, the whole spinning-around-motion one gets from both the sounding and the visualization stuck the song in my head for weeks. [Later appeared the wonderful acoustic version of the song performed by James Vincent McMurrow ]

During the stay in Krakow, I had enough time (not only to write my thesis but also) to explore various genres, artists and recommendations (unspeakable thanks to Th. for all the music and communication). Thus I got more acquainted with Hooverphonic and found out that their song Eden could be my visit card.

If Last.fm is correct, I should have first listened to Banks in June, but I’m not sure whether the first time wasn’t in May. Anyway, initially not so much impressed, later I grew fond for her calm deep voice and dark vibes. Quite later, I found out her album (‘Goddess’) had been already out for some time and gave it an ear. And probably it is one of my favourites this year.

The other one is the album of Keaton Henson ‘Romantic Works’, which managed to elevate me from the very beginning. Keaton Henson can produce a strong atmosphere of painful gentleness, fragility and brokenness reaching to a suffocating melancholy, autumn moods and cosy English red-brick yard walls. There is some pathology in this atmosphere, though.

June was also the month when I finally found a mutual language with Björk. She came just on time to help experience some moments which can’t be expressed without some rough screams and a master voice play. It started after a one evening of poetical event which was pretty bad and after a glass of wine with friends met on the same event, before sleeping, I was thinking something about the mutuality in the relationships between people. And since the very same day I had listened to Bachelorette [I liked this song the very first time I heard it one New Years night on a fashion show where she sang it], the title ‘Mutual Core‘ came immediately in my mind, so I checked it and fell in love with the lyrics. This itself happens very rarely as most of the time I am first caught by the melody and the voice. Later I was liking more and more of her works, mostly Oceania, Crystalline (especially this remix which accompanied my whole summer basically). Wanderlust was accompanying me while I couldn’t imagine that I had to set off again.
I’ve recently found her Virus (which lyrics are so magnetic and harmonic with the sounds of the melody) and All is full of love (which is one of the best trip hop examples for me so far). Then – Hyperballad (which reminds so much of the euphoric mixture of sorrow-and-joy-all-at-once found later in Sigur Rós) and Human Behaviour (which happens to be the first track of her debut album Debut in June 1993 – a smashing start, I might say). It’s always interesting to find the roots of certain patterns, which are known from their later appearances. I definitely reaching the end of the year with Hidden Place.

So, basically James and Lana have given the tune of my whole year. Let’s see what the new is bringing.