Separation Sunday & Why I Chose It

By now, you're hopefully aware that Songs About Albums: Volume 1 is being released tomorrow (June 13). But did you know that one of its ten constituent tracks was written and performed by lil' old me?

That's right - when I was drafting in artists for this project, I rather selfishly reserved a space for myself (or rather for Shiny Tiger, my charismatic music-making alter ego). I used this completely unearned platform to write a song about Separation Sunday, The Hold Steady's second album and one of my personal all-time favourites.

The Album Wall is 2!

First, a reminder. Songs About Albums: Volume 1 is coming out this Saturday (that's the 13th of June), so please tell your friends, make some noise, and generally spread the word. The compilation will be free to download from The Album Wall's SoundCloud and Bandcamp pages as of Saturday morning, although three of the ten featured tracks can already be heard and downloaded here if you want a sneak preview.

Right, now that I've had my little plug...

...I hope you're in the mood for a celebration, because The Album Wall is TWO YEARS OLD today! The blog's very first post was published on this day in 2013, and we've had all sorts of fun since then:

• We've covered roughly a third of 69 Love Songs


• We've navigated an entire Welsh Music Prize shortlist together


• We've poked holes in a whole bunch of classic albums, from Queen of Denmark to The Queen is Dead


• We've basked in the insight of Public Service Broadcasting, one of my favourite bands currently active


• We've recorded a whole album's worth of songs about our all-time favourite records


• We've gotten angry about Conservative victories, misogynistic musicians, unauthorised leaks, and free U2 albums


• And, of course, we've over-analysed (or 'albumwalled') more LPs than most people will ever bother to listen to in their entire lives. Well done us!

I'm so proud of everything The Album Wall has been over the last two years, and I couldn't have done it without all of you. I'm not about to thank everyone by name, but suffice it to say that if you've ever read, enjoyed, shared, commented on, questioned, or contributed to my little album blog in any way, I'm immensely grateful for your help.

And, of course, I'm still going strong - hopefully I'll be dissecting your favourites and making up bizarre theories for many years to come.

Cheers!
Joel

Universal Themes Journal

Bristol Airport, Lulsgate Bottom // Wednesday 27th May

I am killing time in WHSmith, waiting for my gate to be announced so that I can board my flight to Barcelona. Whilst flicking through the latest issue of Uncut - I tend not to buy the magazine nowadays, but I still like to sneak the odd peek at their album reviews when the opportunity arises - I spot an article about Universal Themes, the new Sun Kil Moon album that's due out in just under a week.

Sun Kil Moon's previous LP, Benji, was among my favourite albums of 2014, and so I am thrilled to learn that its follow-up is mere days away; better still, Uncut's very positive four-star review suggests that this new'un will be very much in the same stellar league as its starkly beautiful predecessor. Slipping the magazine back into the rack, I pull out my phone and add Universal Themes to my ever-expanding album wishlist, just above Flamingo by Brandon Flowers.

Hotel Hesperia Del Mar, Barcelona // Sunday 31st May

I am lounging in my hotel room in Barcelona. This is a much-needed day of rest; I have witnessed more than 20 performances since my shoes first hit Spanish soil on Wednesday, and thanks to Bacardi's corporate presence at the Primavera Sound festival, I have imbibed more than my fair share of rum in that time too.

Primavera Sound 2015: 5 New Faves

In my last blog post, I told you all about my first Primavera Sound festival - the good bits, the bad bits, the cool stuff, the uncool stuff, and so forth. However, you may remember that I was tantalisingly reluctant to talk about the new bands that I'd discovered during my time at the festival, and that's because I was saving that blog for today.

Single Mothers (Pitchfork, Saturday)

Without further prolongment, then, here are five of my favourite new (to me, anyway) bands from Primavera Sound 2015. I'd strongly recommend that you kick-start your weekend by listening to all of them.

• We'll start, topsy-turvily, with the very last act I saw last week: Single Mothers, a punkrocky foursome from Canada. Thousands would disagree with me, but I thought they were the perfect band for 3.10 in the morning; they re-invigorated my tired ears (not to mention my tired feet) and got me to a place where I could jump around for one last time before going home. I particularly enjoyed the singer's complete disregard for his own wellbeing as he tumbled about the stage and in and out of the crowd.
  
  

Primavera Sound 2015: The Good & The Bad

I'm back! My first Primavera Sound festival is over, and I've got plenty to say about my stay in Barcelona. On Friday, I'll be sharing five of my favourite new bands from the festival; firstly, though, I thought I'd just list some of the best (and worst) things about my Primavera experience.

What was good?

• The music, obviously. I discovered plenty of new bands - again, come back on Friday for more on that front - but Primavera Sound 2015 also helped me to rediscover several old favourites, namely Brand New (with The Crimea disbanded and Davey MacManus working as a nurse in Africa, it occurs to me that Jesse Lacey is probably the closest thing music currently has to a Davey substitute), Interpol ("This is my favourite!" - me, at the start of practically every song Interpol played on Saturday night), and especially Damien Rice, who - armed with only a guitar, a loop pedal, and his own voice - still managed to make me feel all of the emotions I felt when I saw him with a full band back in 2007.


• The location. The Parc del Fòrum is a slightly unusual venue - with nary a blade of grass in sight, it looks more like a skate park than a festival site - but it's perfect for its purpose. Oh, and since it's right next to the water, you get a great view of the Balearic Sea while you listen to the bands (especially if the band in question is playing on the H&M Pro stage). 


• The stalls. The Rough Trade tent (a staple of the Green Man Festival, which I will also be attending this summer) was a very welcome presence on the festival site last week - being the album addict I am, I loved being able to watch an awesome new band and then purchase their CD immediately afterwards without even leaving the Fòrum. Several Spanish record labels also had their own stalls on-site, which was very cool - I purchased a Helen Love CD from the Elefant Records stand, which is ironic because Helen Love are actually from South Wales.


• The app. I've only had a smartphone for about a year, and so Primavera 2015 was my first app-assisted festival experience. The Primavera Sound app - a sort of digital festival programme that told you all about each act and notified you when one of your favourites was about to start - was free to download and a pleasure to use; it'd be great to see more festivals doing this sort of thing in future (that means you, Green Man organisers!)