#5 – Loney, Dear is a pseudonym for another Swede, a humble songwriter called Emil Svanängen. He’s been going for a while, but has only recently achieved international recognition, being a ‘Single Of The Week’ on the online music shop iTunes, and appearing in their London Festival.
He has a strange talent of sounding both very vulnerable and very confident at the same time, with his voice working best when struggling to hold on against twelve other instruments and a driving rhythm (a sound that he replicates brilliantly on stage
#4 – Midlake are five lads from Texas, and are probably the most qualified act here, having met at the ‘North Texas School For Music’ (which must be pretty prestigious – I mean, it’s a big place!)
For some reason, they love to sing wistfully about the ‘pioneering’ days, of bandits, woodlands, and log cabins – though they do so in quite a modern way, and it all still feels very relevant. With their advanced degrees in music, they are able to make every track sound absolutely fantastic, whatever instruments
#2 – Belle & Sebastian. To make things a bit more local, this next entry concerns a Scottish band with seven permanent members, none of who are called Belle or Sebastian. They got the name from an old BBC TV series, based on a French children’s book.
They are definitely the most famous act on the list. The sitcom ‘Teachers’ used one of their songs as a theme tune, and they are on the radio a fair bit – at least, they are on the stations I listen to. Oh, and they were a favourite of John Peel
#1 - Sufjan Stevens. Sufjan is a young man from the USA. His most famous albums are ‘concept albums,’ about Illinois and Michigan, and he has vowed to record one of these about every state. So far he has only done two, which leaves forty-eight to go – and he’s not helping himself with side projects like his five-disc Christmas album, Songs For Christmas.
Sufjan’s sheer ambition is one of the reasons I find him so endearing. Not only does he write it all himself – and most of the albums are over an hour long – but he often plays it all himself
GREAT MUSIC YOU'VE PROBABLY NOT HEARD
(from 'The Driffield Leader,' January 2009)
If you are (or were) seriously into music, chances are you have complained at some point about the quality of it at the moment. Perhaps you have bemoaned ‘that rubbish in the charts,’ or commented to your friends (or children) that it was ‘much better in my day.’
If you have done this, then – to be fair – you make a good point. Last week someone showed me the singles chart from the week I was born, and I knew of and liked seven of the top ten songs. Looking at this week’s chart, I see nothing that looks (or sounds) particularly good.
But what exactly has happened? Musicians haven’t got worse, and record companies are doing the same thing they’ve done for the last fifty years, doing all they can to get their hands on young people’s disposable income.
The truth is that music is suffering from the same 21st century curse as television. The variety on offer is simply baffling, and in today’s world where anyone with a computer can record and publish an album (or TV programme!), even if someone does make something good, no-one can find it.
What you need is a guide, someone with the time and inclination to trawl through the world of music, looking for artists of merit. This is where myself and the ‘Driffield Leader’ come in, and so we have for you here five great artists of recent years who you have probably never heard of. Obviously there are plenty more, but it’s up to you to find those for yourself. (And then tell me – it’s only fair!)
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#3 - Jens Lekman. Jens is from Sweden, where they have a particularly strong music scene at the moment – in recent months, four of every five artists I have been recommended are from those parts. (See #5 as well.)
Jens is a big fan of old fashioned quality pop, saying on his first album, ‘I know every song, you name it/by Bacharach or David.’ All his songs have a wonderful kind of lovelorn bittersweetness – which does it for me every time – though sometimes he can be quite upbeat as well.
himself, using ‘multitrack recording’ to capture his performance on guitar, piano, banjo, and pretty much anything else he can find.
He regularly brings in a full brass and string section to back him up, and even the odd choir (a traditional staple of ambitious rock and roll.) Though he’s also not afraid to quieten things down with an acoustic number, or even ‘rock out’ with a bit of electric guitar. Sufjan is clearly a man with something to say, and for that reason alone, I reckon he’s worth checking out.
Key albums: Illinois, Michigan
Peel, the late broadcaster and music fan, who you must have heard of.
They are a band with a particular kind of bittersweet, old-fashioned charm, which my humble literary powers are not quite up to conveying. You could say they are a bit ‘twee,’ but this would not be doing them justice – they have certainly ‘rocked out’ a bit more in recent years (I must stop using that phrase), though not to an excessive degree. What they do best is great melodies, and if that sounds like your sort of thing, you should look them up.
Key albums: If You’re Feeling Sinister, Dear Catastrophe Waitress
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Like all these artists, he is fond of using strings and brass, though he mainly does it through ‘sampling’ other, older records, which is a much more effective process than it sounds. Over the three albums he has released so far, he has built up an endearing, distinctive musical personality, and created some brilliant songs that I am sure his heroes would be proud of. I know I am!
Key albums: Oh You’re So Silent Jens, Night Falls Over Kortedala
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instruments they might play on it.
They also have a certain warmth, mostly thanks to the lead vocalist’s voice, which always sounds honest and thoughtful, even when put on top of electronically synthesised sounds (as in their first album.) On their second album, over the sounds of a sincerely played grand piano, it is nothing short of heartbreaking – and if a music can bring you to the verge of tears, it must be good for something.
Key albums: Bamnan and Slivercork, The Trials Of Van Occupanther
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stage, from what I’ve heard.)
Especially on his latest release, the songs are unfailingly catchy – and while perhaps you won’t be singing them in the shower, or on karaoke night, you might hum the tunes when walking along a rural footpath, or by the sea. If you do that sort of thing.
Key albums: Loney Noir, Sologne
