My Music in 2015 - EPs and mini-albums - Part 1

Not wishing to get into a debate about what is or is not an EP this category is something of a cop-out. That does however leave an open question concerning quite when does a mini-album become a full-blown LP. In so far as is possible I use the distinction that the artist chooses and if that is indiscernible then I make the decision myself.
In the new order this is however one of the most interesting places in which to dwell: just ten years ago who could have foreseen that the then moribund concept of the EP would find a whole new meaning - whether that be digital only, on CD, vinyl or now increasingly so also cassette. The list is, as usual, alphabetical by artist:

• Aurora - Running With The Wolves
• Clara Engel - A Little Slander, A Little Lace
• Francis Pugh and The Whisky Drinkers - A Place Back West
• The Japanese House - Pools To Bathe In
• Joni Fuller - Letters From The West Coast
• Sound Of The Sirens - All We Have Is Love

It's a mix of things that have grabbed my attention. In this case I have only seen two of these acts live  - the first and the last. This is the first.

Aurora - Walled Garden stage - Green Man Festival -  23 August 2015.

This was long before the John Lewis Christmas advertisement in which Aurora Aksnes' cover of Oasis' 'Half The World Away' happened. That has certainly bought her a great deal of attention. Her own music deserves more than that.

Clara Engel is a Canadian that is criminally ignored by most. That is a great shame and not least for the would-be listeners. Her music maybe somewhat challenging but it repays the effort many times over and, while the above EP is short, there is a sizeable body of work to discover. Do it.

Francis Pugh and The Whiskey Singers I pretty much summed up in my post back in September. This, for the purists, is a true EP. Three tracks - the first and last are their own with a cover of Hank Williams' 'I Saw The Light' sandwiched between them. Another stalwart of the Oxford roots music scene is likely to feature in part 2 of this thread.

Sound Of The Sirens. a duo from Exeter, has had quite some year. Here they are playing The Lights, Andover back in March.

That was before Chris Evans, presenter of the BBC Radio2 Breakfast Show, was revealed as a fan. One thing led to another and ultimately the duo of Abbe Martin and Hannah Woods played live at the relaunch of his classic late 1990's Channel 4 show TFI Friday.

2013 In Music - EPs and mini albums

This is the post that I delayed from earlier in the week. I've been thinking about it all the while and yet I am still not sure quite how it will turn out. I think that it will just evolve over the next day or two...

There a few times, when one hears for the first time a new artist or act of which one was previously completely unaware and the first instinct is simply WTF? Festivals are happy hunting grounds for this... indeed albums by two artists that first took me this way have already appeared in this year's lists of albums.

2013 in Music - Albums - Part 1

2013 in Music - Albums - Part 2
    

This is not my first mention of an artist that I had first seen live at End of The Road Festival 2011 (although then under a different name). It was a foregone conclusion, before End of The Road Festival 2013, that this would be here...

Available in, as well as other formats, 12" vinyl (as pictured here).

The Graphite Set live at End of The Road 2013.


THESE STREETS, The Graphite Set from Louis W Hudson on Vimeo.
  

This next EP might be a tough one to convince you of the merits of and for the very same reason that may also affect one album on each of my two lists so far! The last song is the only one sung in English and will hopefully make it all worthwhile. Even finding the EP on CD can be a challenge but your best bet is here. Another artist I want to see live in 2014.

This post, as you might have already noticed is not in alphabetical order by artist. It is not in any other known order either. In the spirit of my first ever such round-up post, also of EPs and back in 2007, I'm going with whatever eligible recordings suit my mood.
It would be wrong to include any act other than on merit. If that happens to be one from not so far distant then that is all the better.

Wolfhound is signed to Bristol-based Jelli Records.

Whilst on the subject of bands including sisters, Natalie and Sally Joiner in the case of Wolfhound above and Anja Quinn on the far right, here is another .

Lily & Madeleine Jurkiewicz have now released their eponymous début album.

This EP however, on 10" vinyl, was their beautiful calling card. The comparison to the Swedish Söderberg sisters, aka First Aid Kit, is valid but not to be dwelt on to excess.
In all probability this thread will have a second post, just as the album thread will have a third. Good times.

2012 In Music - EPs and mini-albums

At first I used to start my annual round-up with this category, so-titled as to avoid pedantic arguments about what strictly constitutes an EP!  Where a mini-album becomes an album is similarly obscure, is it the number of tracks or the overall running time?
It was a genre that I suspected might die out but I'm happy to report that a combination of circumstances has seemingly resulted in rather the opposite. This selection is a bakers' handful of ones that caught my attention during the year and subsequently have found myself listening to repeatedly. Another new development is that I hope to include links to tracks from at least some of the works mentioned.
  
The illustration associated with the first, Craze EP - I Am Harlequin, rather befits the arts-space that the artist seems to inhabit; one where nothing is actually quite what it seems.

I Am Harlequin

My personal favourite is the last track 'Wild One'

The trio of  sisters Haim, with Dash Hutton on percussion, has been cropping up on any number of 'Ones to Watch in 2013' lists in the last month or so. With, I must add, very good reason. Were I to write such a list they would be on mine too. There's a thought; maybe I will.

Earlier this year the band released the Forever EP. As well as the d/l format there was also a very limited UK release on 10" vinyl and this is it.

  
The next artist is the first from this selection that I have actually seen playing live - at Deer Shed Festival 3 back in July though I was aware of Pip Mountjoy somewhat before that - and the first here that generally plays acoustic and solo. This is her first EP - although, at six albeit fairly short songs, it could be a mini-album.  It is available digitally but also on CD - this latter format being an entirely self-released and home-made work of art.
  

Lousiana EP - Pip Mountjoy

Pip Mountjoy at Deer Shed Festival 2012, performing one of the "new" songs.

  

Added 15 December 2012: her second EP, Your Skeleton,  is due out early in 2013 - February, hopefully.

  

This one is also self-released, by Devon-based artist Alice Jemima, and also available on CD as well as download. She is also a huge favourite amongst the writers of the blog Breaking More Waves, which I highly recommend too. Enjoy!
  

  
The following, again available on CD if you are lucky, was probably the first that I knew would be in this list. The good news is that the duo behind it are working towards an LP release of original material in 2013. In the meanwhile check out the 2009 LP One Light Is Gone.
  

Should you be wondering why my version is black and that next to the audio stream is red it is because these too are all hand printed. Mine is red for the track-listing on the reverse and white versions also exist. As of today (1 December) the CD is still available here.

Last, but certainly not least, is an artist who has just completed a pan-European tour, comprising about seventy performances, promoting this EP and also the very recently released début LP 'Under Mountains' (about which in due course).
  

Rachel Sermanni is another artist that I saw live at Deer Shed Festival.

You can get a free download of 'The Fog' (live, acoustic version), one of the four songs on the Black Currents EP, in exchange for your e-mail address, here.

  

Rachel Sermanni, live at Deer Shed Festival, July 2012.

My 2009 in music: EPs and mini-albums

It is that time of year again; the season for making lists. This is not however my Christmas wish list but rather the first part of the music that I have heard in 2009 that I particularly liked.
It, like all the other parts to follow, is obviously a personal selection so if you agree with some and disagree with others then it is well worth doing; should you discover anything from it that had either not caught your attention or merely forgotten then all the better and, as usual, all comments, positive or negative, are welcome.
As I did last year I started with one of the categories that I find it easier to get my head around. It is better this year even though 'EPs and mini-albums' has become a whole lot more complicated than it was in 2008. As usual I'm not going to attempt to rank them, not least because that depends on my mood at the time. These have however proved enduring favourites and so here they are, in alphabetical order and by arist:

• Amy LaVere - Died of Love
• Beth Jeans Houghton - Hot Toast Volume 1
• First Aid Kit - Drunken Trees
• Le B - Good Fortune Sounds
• Marina and the Diamonds - The Crown Jewels EP
• Smoke Fairies - Frozen Heart
• Stars of Sunday League - The Boy's Got Prospects

A major departure from the selection I made last year is that as well as owning said items I have actually seen five of the seven acts live in 2009. The exceptions being Amy LaVere and Le B because I didn't get the opportunity to do so. Of these seven acts/artists only one has released a full album to date and that is Amy LaVere, who has released two, and the second of them, 'Anchors and Anvils', was in my list of 2008 albums.

There are also a few EPs that overlap with 2009 artists and albums that I think worthy of note, but probably need no introduction, simply for the remixes:

• Florence and The Machine - A Lot Of Love, A Lot Of Blood
• Little Boots - Arecibo

The nine items above are, at least in my collection, represented equally on CD, 7" vinyl and 12" vinyl --- so not even dead on physical format! The artwork of many of these items has already appeared in my posts in 2009 but not all of it so here is some more...

There is more (including links from this post) to follow soon...