As prompted by Mr Tom Finnerty and The Few...
Few’s North Music Poll – 2015
1) David Bowie - Blackstar
Out of nowhere... weird and wonderful with a new backing band of NYC jazzers.
So good to have Bowie releasing genuinely interesting and challenging music and videos.
Can't wait for the album.
I'm a blackstar, I'm not a gangstar. I'm a blackstar, I'm a blackstar. I'm not a pornstar, I'm not a wandering star. I'm a blackstar, I'm a blackstar
2) New Order - Nothing But A Fool
Really enjoyed the NO album... a breath of fresh air.
This track just got to me... a mix of the older guitar-led NO amongst the more synth-led (a la Technique) style of much of the album.
Hummable pop music for indie-sensibilities.
3) Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra - Into Forever (feat Josephine Oniyama)
A recent(ish) discovery for me.
Manchester based trumpeter, composer, arranger and band-leader Matthew Halsall is one of the rising stars of the UK jazz scene. http://www.matthewhalsall.com/
This incarnation of his band the Gondwana Orchestra produced a lovely album of contemporary jazz which looks backward to influences from the greats and forward to keep the jazz flame alive.
Halsall’s jazz sensibilities constantly lead him to energise the gentlest passages with contrastingly prodding bass hooks, tough drum patterns and rimshot snaps (as on The Land Of), McCoy Tyner-like piano lines edging through Rachael Gladwin’s harp swoops
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/24/matthew-halsall-gondwana-orchestra-into-forever-review
I've chosen this, title track from the album as they chose to feature it with a video and it is representative of the feeling of the album as a whole.
