1. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat "Everything's Getting Older"
When we interviewed Chemikal Underground's Stewart Henderson for the Insularis Records Podcast about the then forthcoming Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells album (listen again here), we got the impression that it was going to be a bit special, but it wasn't until we heard the track "Glasgow Jubilee" that we knew for sure.
At around 15 years of musical output, from Arab Strap to L. Pierre to Aloha Hawaii to everything else inbetween, Moffat has yet to hit a bum note. Wells delivers some absolutely wonderful performances here too, with both men taking on the bulk of the instrumentation for the album. From the start, it's a beautifully precise sonic landscape with a full range of high's and low's: mellow piano passages sit comfortably alongside military-style percussion, distorted vocals and brass.
With the LP edition you also get a host of welcome extras, which also provides a data CD with your vinyl including all the audio content of the vinyl plus yet more bonus material. In particular "Everything's Getting Slower" from the Deconstruction / Reconstruction 12" is worth the price of admission all by itself.
The demos, instrumentals, reworks and live material is great, but it's the album that shines here. In teaming up Moffat with Bill Wells, we get a rare insight into 2 masters of different genres combining forces.
Album of the year, without question.
http://www.insularisrecords.com/aidan-moffat-and-bill-wells-everything-s-getting-older-vinyl
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