Photo by Flickr user David Meurin (Creative Commons).

Lots and lots of good albums were released in November, and this month the EP section is also full of more good releases than usual.
19 albums, 9 EPs and 5 singles are mentioned as my favourites in this post!
The rest of the year will probably be less good musically, with cheezy Christmas releases dominating the market.
Here is my summary of the releases I loved the most in NOVEMBER.

The list is in no particular order, but the ones I loved the most are marked with a red ||.

A Spotify playlist with songs from this list can be found below or via this link.
Did you miss the other posts in this series? Click the link to view them. 

SINGLES I LOVED THIS MONTH

The single track releases I loved this month are too many to mention, but some really stood out.

Holy Now (photo by Christian Olofsson)

From the singles in NOVEMBER, I especially liked the new songs from:

Whyte Horses ft St. Barts Choir – She owns the world  A very beautiful new version of a song from their 2016 album Pop or Not, where a childrens choir have taken over the vocals and the arrangement is stripped down. 

Cigarettes after Sex – K  Everything CaS makes goes right into my heart.  I love the calmness, hushed vocals and beauty of the songs. People who like bands like The Clientele may enjoy this a lot. This song is another gem from Cigarettes afer Sex.

Holy Now – Wishlist  Brilliant indiepop from Sweden. What a great song this is!

Novella – Change of state  A warm and driving psych pop song with lots of interesting elements. 

Marika Hackman – driving under stars  Christmas songs are not a genre I jump excited out of my chair to listen to, but this one is done so differently and has qualities as a song that other songs in the genre lack. It is a beauty
. Hackman will release her Christmas album early in December, and for once I am looking forward to an album in the Christmas genre. 

You will find even more of my other favourite singles from November in the Spotify list.

ALBUMS I LOVED THIS MONTH

IRAH (photo by Mie Brinkmann)

IRAH – Into dimensions || This debut album from Danish trio IRAH feels almost magical. The calm atmosphere they create with their slow-moving songs, heavenly synthlayers and the intimate, delicate vocals from singer Stine Grøn makes you just float away with the music. The band has a unique style, but the closest comparison I can come up with is a softer version of Portishead combined with the vocal qualities of Kate Bush. An amazing debut.  (Spotify)

Monomyth – Happy pop family || It is a bit difficult for me to place the Canadian band Monomyth in a specific genre, because they travel around the entire continent of indie music. The opening track “aloha” reminds me about The Jesus and Mary Chain from the Darklands-period, both in sound and lyrics, while most of the other songs have a more classic 60s/70s melodic, harmony based popsound in style with Byrds, Big Star and later bands influenced by these ones, like Teenage Fanclub. There are lots of great songs on this album, and much to like. I smiled of surprise when I listened to the album’s last track, and the band started singing the chorus from Human League’s classic hit, “Don’t You Want Me”. Wonderful!
I must also mention that the two main songwriters also are a part of the fantastic band Nap Eyes.  (Spotify)

The Leaf Library – Versions || When a band releases 3 versions of the same album, I usually let out a big sigh. We see it far too often: Remastered, reissued, special edition, live version, demo version, 20 year anniversary edition etc…
The Leaf Library is one of the few bands that can make 3 versions of one album, and still make it really interesting and highly creative. The three versions, “Daylight versions” (the original, full band album, – a wonderful release), “Nightlight versions” (an instrumental, droney, ambient version of the original) and now “Versions”, where we find 9 remixes of the songs on the album. Each one adds a new flavour to the original songs, and they are all very good.
On “Versions” we are presented with great remixes from artists like Cavern of Anti-Matter, Firestations, Deerful, Hong Kong in the 60s/A Taut Line,  Bit Cloudy, Hood and more. This is something rare, – a remix album with lots of different remixers, that still sounds like a consistent album where all songs have a similar feel and atmosphere.
A very pleasant and interesting listen. (Spotify)

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The Wharves

The Wharves – Electa || This trio has given me many great musical moments, – most of them while cooking in the kitchen in fact. There are no kitchen connections in their music, I think, but it is an album that is perfect for cooking food in the kitchen. According to me. I really like this one. The band’s two singers sing together on every song,, which gives a really cool harmonic effect. Musically, this is probably best described as a mix between psyche-rock and fuzzed out folk, with some shoegaze- and even prog-elements. Don’t worry about the prog-thing. It actually works very well in the songs. I never thought I would say that. (Spotify)

The Eversons – Stuck in New Zealand || This is London-based New Zealanders The Eversons’ second album, and it is superfun and good. They have recorded and produced it themselves, and you can hear that they have had lots of fun while making it. It reminds me a bit of all the crazy ideas you could find on The Apples in Stereo’s albums, where TAiS combined all of this with beautiful melodies and harmonies. The Eversons do too. Musically, it has that 60s sound, but also some glam a’la T-Rex and a bit of the good part from Blur and to that you can add a tiny bit of psychedelia and fun. Some songs includes elements I really hate in music, like saxophones and wild screaming, but here it just works! “Good at making enemies”, “Emily”, “Tease”, “Don’t worry about a thing” and the wild and supercatchy “London City song” are all amazing

. (Spotify)

The Minders – Into the river || This album came out in September, but it took a big jump into my ears this month with the marvellous song “Natalie”.  This is the band’s fourth album, the first in 8 years, and it is released 10 years after the band formed! The Minders is a band closely associated with the legendary Elephant 6 Collective, and was originally formed by Martyn Leaper along with Robert Schneider and Hilarie Sidney from The Apples in Stereo. So, back to THIS album. It is brilliant, – as simple as that. Chamber pop, orchestral pop – I don’t know what to call it, other than “wonderful songs I really like”. (Spotify)

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The Megaphonic Thrift (photo by Karen Sofie Sørensen)

The Megaphonic Thrift – Få meg til verden i tide || The Megaphonic Thrift’s first album sung in their Norwegian language, and it works really well. I don’t know how this sounds for non-Norwegians, but the music is so good that you should really listen to this. Their psychedelic dreampop with synth- and experimental pop elements is soothing and really interesting to listen to. One of the best albums from Norway this year.  (Spotify)

Photon – RA 4682 || Photon is a new French band including members of the indiepop band Watoo Watoo, and their debut album is out now on Beko. The music is close to post punk with driving bass lines, chiming, jangly guitars, analogue-sounding synths, drum machines and lovely, dreamy female vocals. On the incredible “désembre” they start up sounding like Faith/Seventeen seconds era The Cure, but when the vocals come in, everything turns into a very dreamy pop song. I could listen to this song forever. The New Wave/Post Punk inspirations are audible on almost every song, but I could also mention modern synth pop bands like Lali Puna or Ms John Soda. I wouldn’t be very surprised to hear Robert Smith’s vocals on some of these songs, though. An impressive debut! (Bandcamp)

Bubblegum Lemonade – The great leap backward || Yay! A new Bubblegum Lemonade album is always something to celebrate. If I am not wrong, this is his fourth album, all on Matinée Recordings. This is jangly, very melodic indiepop with a very distinct sound, and Laz’ lovely warm voice in front. The opener, “Hit the ground running”, with its krauty drum machine beat and rhythmic guitars, should be a song every indie DJ should put on their playlist. I want to dance! Other favourites on this lovely album are the slightly melancholic yet summery sounding “The only constant is change”, the super catchy title track (also a track I want to dance to!) and “As dead as disco”, with its discoish bassline, fun arrangement, great lyrics and really wonderful melody. The simple guitar solo at the end is so catchy, and I end up humming it after the song is finished. Love it!  (Spotify)

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Lia Pamina (Photo by Rosana Ayza)

Lia Pamina – Love is enough || The sweetest album this month comes from Lia Pamina on Elefant Records. Her music is soft orchestral 60s pop, – almost too sugar-sweet at times, but the wonderful melodies and her beautiful voice make me enjoy this immensly. Her inspirations are among others Claudine Longet, Astrud Gilberto, France Gall, Françoise Hardy, The Beatles, Marianne Faithfull, Burt Bacharach, Phil Spector.  (Spotify)

Michael Nau – Mowing || I am not entirely sure when this was released, because I first heard it in February and mentioned it in my “Best of February” post. However, there have been a couple of singles released recently, some promotion and videos, and the album suddenly was released on Spotify again this month (after disappearing shortly after I heard it in February). Anyway, it is still pretty great!
Here is what I wrote back in February: “I think this is my favourite spring-album this year. I loved what he did in Page France, not so much what he did as Cotton Jones, but he’s definitely back in my heart again with his new solo album “Mowing”. So many wonderful songs on it, and his skills as a songwriter is outstanding.” (Spotify)

Mitski – Puberty 2 || I just realized that I have forgotten to mention one of my favourite albums in these montly summaries. Mitski’s album was released in June, and I absolutely love her music. “Your best American Girl” is one of the best songs I have heard this year, and I never get tired of it. Her very unusual songwriting make me so inspired. Warm, beautiful vocals as well. And I can tolerate some of her use of saxophones. Highly recommended.  (Spotify)

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Olov Antonsson

Olov Antonsson – Nere och ute i AC län || Many of my readers may remember the music of the Swedish artist Cocoanut Groove. This was a one man band, and now Olov Antonsson have released a new album with Swedish lyrics and now he’s using his own name for the project. It sounds quite a bit like Cocoanut Groove, and it is so good to hear his music again. This is a wonderful album! If you like the music of artists like Jens Lekman, this may be for you. He’s just as good, even better maybe. A brilliant songwriter. You now have a very good reason to start learning Swedish! (Spotify)

Young Romance – Another’s blood || Finally Young Romance’s album is here, and I just love Claire Heywood’s voice! Great songs throughout the album. Rough guitars and a wall of sound combined with Claire’s beautiful and powerful voice give Young Romance a unique style full of contrasts and interesting elements. Indiepop/shoegaze/dreampop. (Spotify)

Luke Temple – A hand through the cellar door || An intensely beautiful folky album. Luke Temple is a great storyteller, and listening to this album almost feels like reading a book full of shortstories, often sad ones.  (Spotify)

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Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (Photo by McLean Stephenson)

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Talk tight || When I first listened to this, I thought “this sounds like Robert Forster’s Go-Betweens songs”. They are from Australia, so I got the geography right. They describe their music as “Tough Pop / Soft Punk”, and with their energy and their melodic qualities they may be quite right. Tight, well produced and really good. The opening track “Wither with You” is gold.  (Spotify)

Hideous towns – disquiet living || I fell in love with Melbourne-quartet Hideous Towns when they released their two track single Heart Attack/Skin in 2015, and I have loved their later singles too. Now their album is out on Lost and Lonesome Records, and it follows up the quality of the singles. 11 dreamy and fairly dark songs with chiming post punky guitars, shoegazy/dreampop elements and powerful female vocals. (Spotify)

Sad13 – Slugger || Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis has made a really good solo album, and it is a pleasure to listen to. If you expect something similar to Speedy Ortiz ‘ fuzzy indierock, you will get a shock here: This album is full of catchy choruses and synth hooks, – very accessible, in fact. With another arrangement and maybe a clean-up of the rough guitars she sometimes uses, the songs could well have fitted some of the female pop superstars of today. The songs are really good, even if the whole album was written in only 14 days. The lyrics are often about empowering feminist themes, and usually put in a positive and powerful way. Go!  (Spotify)

Fraternal twin – Homeworlding || To describe this, I think I will just quote the press release, and add “jangle pop” and my usual “very melodic” to it all. I like this! Here we go: ” In the span of just under a half hour we hear Fleetwood Mac-indebted pop songs, Tom Verlaine-esque guitar leads, ambient composition and watery folk songs quickly passing by in a way that demands repeat listens in order to fully comprehend the depth of the lyrics and songwriting.” The singer has a very warm and pleasant voice as well.  (Spotify)

EPs I LOVED THIS MONTH

Wy

Wy – Never Was || When I listen to the Swedish duo Wy’s music, I like to think that this is how Cocteau Twins or Slowdive would have sounded if they were formed in 2016. At times stunningly beautiful and fragile dreampop, or hyper-desperate cry-pop as they say themselves. Amazing, otherworldly vocals.   (Spotify)

The Magnetic Fields – 5 selections from 50 song memoir || The Magnetic Fields love concepts, and their upcoming album “50 song memoir” is focused on the number 50. Stephin Merritt has written 50 songs, using 50 instruments from his collection, all in celebration of Merritt’s 50th birthday, – one song for every year. The new album will be out early 2017, and this EP is a taster. It covers the years ’74, ’86, ’93, ’02 and ’13 and of course it is good!  (Spotify)

Our Girl – Normally || 4 really good, melodic songs, – powerful, fuzzy, big-sounding indie with hushed and heartfelt vocals. Soph Nathan, the singer and songwriter in the trio Our Girl, is also a part of another favourite band of mine, The Big Moon.  (Spotify)

Slumbers (photo by Benjamin Torrey)

Slumbers – Come over || The Slumbers from New York describe themselves on Facebook as “3 Girls usually in 3 shirts who play 3ish instruments with nearly 3 voices and 1.5 brains”.  The EP is lo-fi, low key, with kind of  low whispery voices and low-ly songs and harmonies. The lyrics on many songs are quite sad and interesting. Have a listen! (Spotify)

Stars in Coma – The world is always ending EP || On their new EP, Stars in Coma strips it all down, and walks some tiny steps away from the upbeat indiepop we know them for from previous releases. It suits them well. Most of the songs are based on acoustic guitar and are slowed down and almost folky. This way, the melodies and lyrics comes forward and really shines. I have always enjoyed the music of Stars in Coma, but I think I like them even better like this. Very good.   (Spotify)

Is Bliss – Velvet dreams || Portsmouth trio Is Bliss has released their new EP on the fine Club AC30 label. Very good groovy, noisy psychedelic, shoegazy pop. Produced by Pat Collier (The House Of Love, Primal Scream, Swervedriver)..  (Spotify)

majoriteten – Ikväll har vi staden för oss själva || This one man band from Norrköping in Sweden should definitely have a lot more listeners! I have listened and loved the music of  majoriteten, aka Jimmy Åkesson, since he released his first songs a few years ago. He sings in Swedish, with amazing lyrics, and his dreamy, melancholic indiepop songs – often based around an acoustic guitar, bass, drums and his lovely, reverbed vocals, are just wonderful. Listen, please, a lot. You will love this. You should. Even if you don’t understand a word. (You now have another good reason to learn Swedish!) (Spotify)

gobbinjr – Vom night || gobbinjr’s bedroom pop takes us into Emma Witmer’s daydreamy world. Her debut album “Manalang” from 2015 was among my absolute favourites that year, and I love this new EP of hers too. “I just wanna be perfect, anything less is shameful”, she sings, and the songs are pretty perfect in all their weird, fun, sad lofi-ish imperfection. She has a lot in common with artists like Frankie Cosmos, Eskimeaux, Florist and maybe also Lady Lamb, who all are wonderful. So is gobbinjr. (Spotify)

Galants – Galants || Oh this is good! Tight, shoegazy, noisy pop with layered vocals, pounding drums and great melodies. They in many ways sound like they have taken the melodies and songwriting from Teenage Fanclub and added the sound and rough guitars from Dinosaur Jr, mixed it all up and made it their own.
The Dublin quartet’s new EP is out now on Jigsaw records, and all 4 songs are just wonderful.   (Spotify)

DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE MONTH

Los Campesinos!

I got pretty excited when I saw that both The XX and Los Campesinos! had “comeback” singles out in November. Well, neither of them are particularly interesting. The XX anno 2016 sounds like any other band these days, with those cut up/pitched up vocal samples, dancey beats, build ups and drops. Nice melody, horrible arrangement.

Los Campesinos!’ new single sounds like a pop version of a hardcore band. I don’t like hardcore, and I don’t like pop versions of it. You may, though, so give it a listen. The chorus is ok, but everything else makes me want to turn the volume down to zero. Los Campesinos! new album “Sick Scenes” will be out on January 7, and I am still looking forward to that one.

Both of these bands used to be inventive and interesting, and these two songs are just singles, so let’s hope there will be much more interesting music coming from them later.

Listen to most of the songs from this list on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/user/eardrumspop/playlist/3PBO1a6OCJUYsYmCaEQvyE