The third installment in this year’s Elba Annual comes courtesy of Andy from Gerry Loves Records. Gerry Loves seem to have the knack of taking money from muso’s by continually releasing good music and nice looking products, and have in the last year have put out EP’s and singles from Adam Stafford, Over the Wall, John Knox Sex Club and our personal favourite, Book Group.
This is also now the second annual post in a row whereby the interviewee has chosen an absolute doozler of a track of the year that I hadn’t heard before. We also got a fairly extensive ‘Albums of the year’ list.
Enjoy y’all.
Album of the year
There’s no way I could pick one. Here’s my top 10 in no particular order:
Indians – Somewhere Else
Hookworms – Pearl Mystic
Swearin’ – Surfing Strange
Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt
Jon Hopkins – Immunity
Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place
Golden Grrrls – Golden Grrrls
Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse
Low – The Invisible Way
The Pastels – Slow Summits
I also loved records by people I know, so I left them out of the above:
Adam Stafford – Invisible Walls Collapse
Rick Redbeard – No Selfish Heart
Conquering Animal Sound
eagleowl – this silent year
RM Hubbert – Breaks and Bone
The Yawns – The Yawns
Burnt Ones – You’ll Never Walk Alone
Song of the year
Courtney Barnett – “Avant Gardener”
I’m obsessed.
Best gig you put on
Best gig we put on was John Knox Sex Club + Over the Wall + Book Group at Stereo in October. By far the biggest show we’ve ever done and the reaction was incredible. All the bands were on top form too.
Phillip PAWS trying to remember the words to Taylor Swift at his solo show in Edinburgh was also a highlight for me.
Best gig you saw
My memory is terrible and unlike records I don’t have gigs lying around to remind me. So I’ll go with Indians in a church in Austin, TX in March at SXSW. I’d been in love with their (his) record since it came out. We ended up seeing them twice that day. The first time was in the car park of a shop in north Austin in the sweltering afternoon heat, and they were great then too. But that evening in the Presbyterian Church was amazing. The building and hushed atmosphere really worked with the music. Big and echoey and solemn but not downbeat. They only played for about half an hour too, which just made me want more.
Any musical thoughts to share on the year 2013?
It’s been a really good year, I think. Lots of good, odd electronic stuff came out this year. Lots of big bands came out with new albums that for some reason I wasn’t that interested in: Kanye, The National, Nick Cave, Arcade Fire and more.
I wish people would try and remember what they were like at 20, and what that would have been twisted to look like if they were in the public eye.
There seems to have been less good mainstream pop this year (Roar and some Dev Hynes stuff being the exceptions).
What does 2014 have in store for you?
We’ve got a few releases in the pipeline, including an album, but who knows. If our previous experience is anything to go by though, some of that won’t happen and some new things will come along. We’ve also got some shows planned further afield. Nothing we can confirm yet though!
Fill a loved ones stocking over at the Gerry Loves online store!
