Well time flies when you're extremely busy and stressed out and as such, I managed to ignore all my posts saying that I'd keep up with the blogging and have in fact done none. 2009 is proving already to be quite the challenge, time to man up.

However, the stress has only just begun. I move out of my beautiful flat on Saturday to move in with my wonderful, supportive girlfriend in February into an equally amazing flat. Though this is a music blog, it also allows me a little window to publicly declare my gratitude to Lauren for being so wonderful during what has been a trying few months. She has been nothing but perfect and I cannot wait to move in with her. When you read this Lauren, know that I am more grateful and excited than you'll ever know.

So, music, albums, bands, that malarkey.

Albums that have been tearing up my iPod in the early few weeks of 2009 are thankfully varied in both genre and age. I am gathering quite the vinyl collection now and have decided that my favourite albums are ones that I should own not only the cd but the vinyl as well where financially viable. This lead to me picking up a copy of Paul Simon's incredible 1986 effort, Graceland and consequently pushing it onto everyone that will listen.

With the afro-beat revival that is taking place at the moment, pioneered by Vampire Weekend, it seems that an album with such complexity and diversity as Graceland should be revisited too. The album was introduced to me by my dad and I have fond memories of listening to the album in the car with my dad when I was a youngster. Graceland has retained its charm and stands head and shoulders above a lot of albums I listen to.

As I said, recorded in 1986, Graceland peaked at #1 in the UK charts and #3 in the US Billboards. The record features a variety of South-African artists and launched the career of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The album was recorded during the period of Apartheid in South Africa and as such, received much opposition. However, Simon observed that the album was offering no support to the South African regime and was in fact promoting the cultural diversity and heritage of South Africa, leading the complaints to be dropped.

The afro-beat and accapella influences are clear from the get go and it makes for a wonderfully boppy, rhythmic album with a wide wide range of instrumentation. From the washboards as additional percussion, to the completely accapella track Homeless, this is a landmark album which demonstrates the roots of folk music within black communities and its ability to be augmented with new instrumentation whilst retaining the vibe and core elements of a fantastically diverse genre.

Recommended tracks:

Homeless

Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes

Under African Skies

Another album that has caught my attention recently and is actually pretty good is Frank Turner's Love, Ire & Song.

The former singer of English hardcore punk band Million Dead, Turner began to return to his acoustic roots when he began performing more and more acoustic sets as the band wound to a close. Originally learning guitar so that he could play songs that his sister wanted to sing along to, Turner was influenced by Counting Crows & Alanis Morrisette among others and has gone on to produce one of the best modern folk albums I've heard.

Reminiscent of Billy Bragg at times with his slightly angered, storytelling style, Turner's album is a revelation in simple but effective songwriting. The album is a simple folk rock album and its simplicity is where this album soars. With the ever-growing electronic scene, production and depth are becoming as important as a good song. However, a folk album leans away from production to emphasise on the message behind the songs and this album has excellent quantities of both.

Annoyingly at times, the lyrics are slightly childish as Frank Turner is nearing his thirties but is still writing choruses saying

"I won't sit down, I won't Shut up

Most of all, I won't grow up"

But this one song aside, the album has all the necessary elements, snare brushes, a violin, group vocals and most of all, fun songs. The album showcases Turner's knack for writing a great song that tells a great story. It is not groundbreaking but folk rarely is, it is about a communal singalong, about describing the current social status and making a little bit of a protest and does album has all three.

The album is due for a rerelease soon with a collection of songs from the past three years and he's building quite the reputation as a fantastic modern folk artist so I thoroughly recommend having a butchers.

Recommended:

I knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous

Reasons Not To Be An Idiot

Love Worth Keeping