Under the fence - ten lesser known lights of 2011

By now it's saturation time in the album of the year polls, with every music website and magazine putting out a top 10, top 50, top 100 even – and quite rightly so. It always makes you realise just how much music there is out there – and thankfully, in the case of this year, an incredible amount of good quality music. I wanted to take the chance to highlight some records – both pop and classical – that I feel have missed out on the jamboree for one reason or another. So here, from all genres, are 10 albums that have made an impact on my musical life for one reason or another in 2011.

No single song captured the mood of the riots and student demonstrations better than British Sea Power's 'Who's In Control'. "I wish protesting was sexy on a Saturday night!" hollers Yan Scott Wilkinson – well soon it was, in Trafalgar Square no less. But this three minute piece of latent anger was followed by some truly wonderful songs on British Sea Power’s fourth album 'Valhalla Dancehall', with the melting centre of 'Georgie Ray', the breezy 'Living Is So Easy' and the moody landscape of 'We Are Sound' all memorable moments on an emotionally powerful album.

With all the bad news came the need to seek out some fun - and for riotous off the wall japes and capers, Mungolian Jet Set's 'Schlungs' proved hard to beat. The spectres of George Clinton and Sly & The Family Stone hang over this album, but the two Norwegians Pål 'Strangefruit' Nyhus and Knut Sævik add their own quirks and musical touches, ensuring happiness, wackiness and an abundance of good tunes are the order of the day. We Are The Shining has a classic house beat, but it's the mischievous Moon Jocks 'n' Prog Rocks that really wins the day. Cosmic, maaaan.
Daedelus' 'Bespoke' was pretty far out, too. Imagine Prince's Purple Rain diffused through a musical prism and you get the uncommonly emotional 'In Tatters', a beautiful and moving slow song on an album brimful of energy and invention. On the other, more energetic side of things you get the blissful 'Tailor-Made' and the frankly remarkable 'What Can You Do', standing left of field with a talent for beat making that has clearly been stepped up a notch. A record high on life.

It's been a good year to be cosmic as it goes, and Mickey Moonlight occupied a space that was pretty out there with his recent album release 'Mickey Moonlight And The Time Axis Manipulation Corporation'. The title says it all really - but the communal singing of 'This Son Is Coming Up' and the deep house of 'Close To Everything - both featuring the superb George Lewis Jr - bring an added dash of soul.

With very little fanfare Bibio has now notched up four extremely fine albums, and he is fast becoming an integral part of the Warp stable. 'Mind Bokeh' was occasionally a mind bender, but made intelligent use of acoustic instruments among its electronic chatter. It also boasted a fine piece of funk in 'K is for Kelson' - imagine the theme to Starsky and Hutch processed for a modern dancefloor! It showed a sense of humour among the clever beats.

Two artists who showed great ambition in their new albums this year were M83 and Tori Amos, and their efforts went largely unrewarded in the polls. As a coincidence I interviewed them both for musicOMH.com this year, and was left in awe of their musical scope and ambition. Anthony Gonzalez wrote much of M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming in the Mojave desert, completing a mind bending opus of space and pure euphoria as he remembered his youth. Not only that, but with 'Midnight City' he had the year's best track bar none. Amos, on the other hand, took a leap into the unknown to take on classical music at its own game. That she produced a 75-minute song cycle with hardly a dip in emotional intensity says exactly how much she took from discovering the music of Schubert in particular. The lyrics and story may be relatively tricky to keep hold of, but the music is enchanting and winsome. A modern take on Winterreise that is not found wanting – with more to come in this sphere, hopefully.

While we're on classical, a word on Hindemith, who still suffers an almost constant state of neglect in the face of some highly attractive music. Lawrence Power completed his series of the works for viola for Hyperion this year, and the works for Hindemith's principal instrument and orchestra were revealed in their full glory with rich colours and harmonies, bittersweet melodies and excellent performances. Definitely one to seek out.

Meanwhile the thoughtful folk of the Eloquence label have delved around for a large supply of previously unavailable Holst recordings, originally made by Decca. These are invaluable historical documents, including performances by Sir Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten (the Humbert Wolfe settings, some of which are truly odd!), a unique take on The Planets from Bernard Herrmann, the leading version of Holst's bewitching opera 'Savitri' and some wonderful choral songs, conducted by the composer's daughter Imogen. Four discs, at a tenner each - well worth investing in one or two at the very least, to discover more of a composer far more cosmopolitan than your average English composer.

Back to pop for the last two in the list - and Wolf Gang's 'Suego Faults' reveals itself to be a highly inventive piece of rock looking towards David Byrne and the Velvet Undergrond for inspiration. The sheer confidence of these songs is infectious, and singer Max McElligott delivers them with a swagger that brings MGMT to mind, the music not afraid to take some risks.

Finally another confident band, the Texans Okkervil River - whose music invites comparisons with Arcade Fire through its poise, energy and drive. In this year's I Am Very Far they have created something powerful and invigorating, writing energetic songs that still have that wonderful folky edge to set them apart, with Will Sheff's vocals for individuality.

So there you are - hope there's something to tickle your fancy in that little lot. 2011 has been a very strong year for music beneath the surface, and let's hope 2012 does the same or even better!

Une rare émotion

It's been a particularly good week for French song at the Wigmore Hall.

First up were Véronique Gens and Susan Manoff with a delectable lunchtime concert of Massenet, Gounod and Hahn. Then two days later Bernarda Fink introduced us to the song cycles of Ravel in a fascinating and rather exotic concert titled 'Une rare émotion', framing them in perspective with works from Debussy and Saint-Saëns.
Attending both concerts showed how the song, like several forms of classical music, made huge advances in style under Debussy and Ravel, becoming more concentrated in expression and more elusive in harmony. Both showed great imagination and flair in their settings, and Fink did really well to resist the temptation to 'over program' her recital. Less in length was definitely more in execution.

The objective of Fink's recital was to show Ravel's genius as a song-setter, but also to show how the French song was developing to include instruments alongside the piano. There was an attractive flute line for Saint-Saëns' Une flute invisible and a cello accompaniment for Massenet's Elegie, an excerpt from his opera Manon. More instructive still were Ravel's Chanson madécasses, where flute and cello offered colourful counterpoint in reaction to the text, which at times had the Wigmore audience scratching their collective heads with its obliqueness.

The Cinq mélodies populaires grecques showed an uncommon concentration of expression, operating as all Ravel does with each note of the utmost importance, none wasted. Only Shéhérazade was found a little wanting, because it is better known in its orchestral version. Adam Walker helpfully supplied the flute line, but Fink was the star, with a vibrant and colourful rendition of Asie, bringing the tale of 1,001 Arabian Nights to life.

Ironically in this recital the two Debussy cycles upstaged those of his contemporary and some-time rival, due perhaps to their naturally unfolding performances and easier structure for a live audience. The opening piano salvo in the first song of Chansons de Bilitis, La flûte de Pan, immediately set the scene, the ears keen to hear Fink's first words. In Trois mélodies de Paul Verlaine the air hung thick with the atmosphere of each song – the piano's florid arpeggios conjuring the sea in La mer est plus belle and the shading from accompanist Christopher Glynn exquisite in L'échelonnement des haies, depicting the busy hedgerows. Verlaine's verse and Debussy's music seemed tailor made for each other, the harmonic style relatively ambiguous but the vocal lines beautifully wrought.

It is perhaps inevitable that Massenet should suffer in comparison with these wonderful examples, but Gens showed in her concert how a little simplicity can go a long way. The composer was given quite a hard time in the booklet notes for setting 'second rate verse', and then for not doing enough with the piano part. A bit harsh, maybe – but given these performances it was much harder to find fault. The oscillating arpeggios of La mort de cigale were a case in point, delivered with a real freshness of voice, while Nuit d'Espagne was enjoyably playful.

The Gounod selection she performed was noticeably more accomplished in terms of verse, form and melody, with the Sérénade the single highlight of these two concerts. Gens sang it beautifully; controlling the 'coloratura' refrains with incredible poise, helped by the natural accompaniment from Susan Manoff.

Interestingly Reynaldo Hahn, a contemporary of Debussy and Ravel, made considerable impact in his song settings, making the poet Victor Hugo cry on one occasion when his rivals did not. Gens was the ideal guide to a composer who penned her recital's most dramatic song, the chilling Trois jours de vendange, which took a turn for the dark side half way through. It was a dramatic moment that suggested there is much more to be made in the discovery of French song. True, Debussy and Ravel may be the acknowledged masters, but there was more than enough here to suggest further investigations will be rewarded.