And so here we are the end of 2013 and it's probably time to decide on my favourite albums from the last 12 months ....

So here it is, the top 10 in alphabetical order.

• Attrition - Unraveller of Angels
• The Civil Wars - The Civil Wars
• Cult of Luna - Vertikal / Vertikal II (have to be included as a pair)
• Eden House - Half Life
• Fish - A Feast of Consequences
• In Death It Ends - Occvlt Machine
• Insomnium - Ephemeral EP
• Mogwai - Les Revenants Soundtrack
• New Model Army - Between Dog and Wolf
• Shovels & Rope - O Be Joyful (gets included as the UK release was in 2013)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

It's been another fantastic year for live music and even though I don't seem to get to as many gigs as I like, these are the ones I remember most (in no particular order)

Acoustica @ the Exeter Phoenix

Fish @ Tavistock Wharf

The Cult @ Exeter University Great Hall

Norman Watt-Roy @ Yellow Room, Seale Hayne

Steve Hackett @ Colston Hall, Bristol

Public Service Broadcasting @ Exeter Phoenix

Phosphorescent @ Rise Records, Bristol

Some great memories in there - Heckling Rev Hammer in the Voodoo Lounge at Acoustica, Wilko Johnson appearing with Norman Watt-Roy, an impromptu Lavender from Fish....

One further special musical moment was sitting on the grass in Belmont Park with a beer in hand watching Don Letts playing some very heavy reggae at the Respect Festival. The sun was shining and all seemed good with the world.

Final review of the big three new releases and The Mission roll back into to town with three quarters of the original line up and the Album The Brightest Light

This starts off full of dumb rawk n' roll of the like that Electric era Cult produced. Everything but the Squeal thunders along on an almost glam rock drums  and Black Cat Bone swaggers with real bravado.

Unfortunately Wayne Hussey has always suffered from quality control issues and nearly all Mission albums suffer from being patchy in places. The Girl in the Fur Skin Rug and When the Trap Clicks Shut are totally unmemorable.
Elsewhere inspiration is sometimes too obvious - Born Under a Good Sign comes straight from the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Just Another Pawn is a blatant rip off of Maggie May.

There are high points though. The single Sometimes the Brightest Light Comes from the Darkest Place is a real classic Mission tune finding Hussey inspired with both his vocals and lyrics.
The album also end on a fantastic song. Litany for the Faithful builds slowly with Hussey recounting songs he has sung before admitting he can't say goodbye to the Mission fans. The acoustic guitar from Hinkler add some real feel to it as well.

This is nowhere near as good an album as the Aura album (easily the best since the original split) but while it doesn't enhance The Mission reputation it also doesn't disgrace it

Second album of the month comes from the New Model Army.

Before Between Dog And Wolf was written the long serving bass player, Nelson, left the band and this signals a slight change to the NMA sound - whereas previous albums were bass led this is a sound of the drums coming to the fore. Layers of  percussive and tribal rhythms underpin the album

The opener Horsemen is a very understated start with the drums almost having that Adam Ant Burundi feel.

March in September could be a lost track from the Thunder & Consolation sessions with violin an backing woo-woo's , while Seven Times is more muscular with a memorable hook.

Justin Sullivan's lyrics are less political this time round with a world weariness to the likes of I Need More Time where he laments still having so much to say.

Qasr El Nil Bridge examines the Egyptian revolution and mixes the traditional NMA sound, sample of the rebellion and middle eastern influence to mesmerising effect.

The title track boast a chorus you can see a heaving mass of bodies shouting out loud in the live arena.

Yet for all the percussion, one of the stand out tracks contains no drums at all. Knievel is a heartfelt poem to the daredevil where Justin asks "did they come to see a man fall or to see him fly?"
A truly beautiful track

This is seriously the strongest NMA album since the Love of Hopeless Causes twenty years ago and for consistency even beats that.

A band of 30 years standing shouldn't be making albums this good but that they have should be fully celebrated

New albums from three of my all time favourite artists in one month is a lot to take in....

First up was Fish and the all new Feast of Consequences - the first new material in six years after a lot of touring the acoustic Fish heads trio.

This really is a fantastic package in places with the highlight being the High Wood suite about the first world war. A full blown 25 minute prog epic unfurls over five parts. From the thundering charge of Crucifix Corner to the reflective The Leaving this is Fish at his best. Whether spitting lyrics about the horror of the trenches or lamenting the futility of it all this has to be the high point of his solo career.

All of which begs the questions why have a couple of more tracks follow the plaintive call to "march into a brave new world...."

There are other highlights such as the slow building opener Perfume River which meanders through both old and new images of Vietnam and All Loved Up which deals the celebrity /social media lifestyle a caustic put down to music reminiscent of Incommunicado.

The Great Unravelling plays out like a duet with a fantastic vocal from the returning Elizabeth Antwi and her backing throughout out the album is a real bonus to the music.

Apart from the ordering of the tracks there are a few missteps - The lyric on Blind to the Beautiful is too Sting for my liking, "the planet is dying, save the trees etc." and there is a feeling the title track was rushed to meet a deadline. These though are minor points when lined up against the strengths of the album

The deluxe CD contains some amazing artwork from Mark Wilkinson who has excelled himself. The picture of the Tommy staring through his fingers is a direct descendant of that first cover of the jester on Market Square Heroes.

Whilst I still just prefer 13th Star, this album shows Fish still has plenty to offer and long may he continue....

Now to one of my favourite albums so far this year and one that may not have happened - The self titled second album from the Civil Wars

After the duo imploded last year you couldn't see this coming but apparently the one issue they didn't have was musical differences.

Consider this to be the modern Rumours album where disintegrating personal relationships between the musicians lead to something special.

The music leans more to muscular Barton Hollow from the debut album rather than the delicate acoustic songs. The opening One That Got Away is a storming tune full of loaded lyrics such as "oh, I wish I'd never seen your face". When they do return to the acoustic roots then Oh Henry is the standout with it's catchy chorus and insistent strumming

There seems to be more of a band feel with drums, slide and other instruments added to other tracks and it's so easy to read meaning into the lyrics (whether really there or not)

To mix things up there's a cover of the Smashing Pumpkins track Disarm and a song Sacred Heart sung totally in French

This is a fantastic album where the tension between the writers really does add the extra sense of exhilaration but that same friction may mean this is the final recording. If that is the case what a way to end it.....

So NFD are back with a new mini 7 track album called Reformations but did anyone actually notice they had left? (it's been 5 years...)

As a band there is one huge white elephant in the room..... Whisper it but the singer sound very, very  like Carl Mcoy of the Nephilim. Once you realise other member of the band also spent time in various guises of the Fields this does look like a sort of odd tribute act

To be fair the music has a more straight forward 'rock' feel, there is no weird majikal lyrical mutterings and the songs all come in under 5 minutes.

The music is goth with a capital G and is more effective when the pace slows such as on The Unknown. The album finishes with a Pink Floyd cover from the Gilmour era. One Slip is an unusual choice for any band but is most odd in this case though not without merit.

So there we are  - a solid album to fill the void for goths while the Fields of the Nephilim continue to hibernate