June 2020.

And (some of) the best lockdown albums are…

Darkstar. Civic Jams. Their fourth and best album. sits at the intersection of showcase, classical, bass music’s ‘hardcore continuum’ and pure pop. Intelligent, nuanced, very beautiful. Best on headphones.

High Violet 10th Anniversary Edition. One of the National’s finest (hell, they’re all brilliant) is rereleased with extra tracks. I don’t know if I need the extras but the original is so important and vital that this birthday deserves to be celebrated.

Cornershop. England is a Garden. An excellent, eccentric, elegant collection of fine alternative rock from a band who should be huge.

Pacific Breeze. Japanese City Pop, AOR and Boogie, 1972-1986. A beautifully assembled collection that may sound almost provocatively niche but, in fact, is hugely joyful and accessible.

Ghost Poet. I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep. I keep coming back to this beautiful, ruminative, languid record, partly because it reminds me of Tricky at his best.

Caribou. Suddenly. Bright, vibrant, intelligent, accessible dance music for this spring/summer and way beyond.

Four Tet. Sixteen Oceans. In many ways this is his most accessible or conventional album but it’s still beautiful and bold and full of jazz-inflected genius. Perfect contemporary pop.

Eve Owen. Don’t Let The Ink Dry. Modern folk from one of the fastest rising stars of the genre. Owen is best know for her work on the National’s excellent I am Easy to Find but this deserves attention on its own merits.

BC Camplight. Shortly After Takeoff. The critics loved this and they were right; it’s a bold, confident singer-song writerly album with all sorts of influences from synth pop to straight ahead rock n roll.

Ben Lukas Boysen. Mirage. A wonderful, loose, organic album from the Berlin based producer that sits in that hinterland between classical and electronic music. Released by the ever reliable Erased Tapes.