Weekend Music Roundup Best of 2018!

As the year winds down, it's time for my annual list of favorite albums from the year that was. This was another amazing year for music, just as every year has been for my entire life. People who say that there is no good music coming out just don't bother trying to find it. It exists. It's there. You just need to open your ears and listen. Here are my favorites in relative order, though nothing is absolute.

Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats - Wasteland

 Mystic Braves - The Great Unknown

The Decemberists - I'll Be Your Girl

The Good, The Bad, and The Queen - Merrie Land

L.A. Witch - Octubre

Green Seagull - Scarlet Fever

Sleep - The Sciences

Ryley Walker - Deafman Glance

Armand Hammer - Paraffin

Holly Miranda - Mutual Horse

Bill Ryder-Jones - Yawn

Jordaan Mason - Earth to Ursa Major

Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin

Black Thought - Streams of Thought Vol. 1 and 2

Brian Jonestown Massacre - Something Else

Gorillaz - The Now Now

Richard Swift - The Hex

T. Hardy Morris - Dude, The Obscure

The Growlers - Casual Acquaintences

 

 

Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses

Cat Power - Wanderer

 

Honorable Mentions:

Interpol - Marauder

The Vines -  In Miracle Land

Nas - Nasir

Hockey Dad - Blend Inn

Lucero - Among the Ghosts

Franz Ferdinand - Always Ascending

Death Valley Girls - Darkness Rains

The Charlatans - Totally Eclipsing

Basement Revolver - Heavy Eyes

Fiction Friday (74)

On the next to last Friday of the year, I've finished reading another book. This is one that took me quite some time to get through as I tried to savor it's brilliance. At this point in my life, there are fewer and fewer pieces of art that truly amaze me, be it literature, film, music, or otherwise. That isn't to say I've lost my sense of amazement, simply that my experiences have exposed me to the vast underground of forgotten art and there remains very little stones to be unturned. But there are still hidden gems out there and when I find them now, my enthusiasm for the discovery is even greater.

The Journal of Albion Moonlight by Kenneth Patchen
(New Directions, 1961)

Originally published in 1941, this is a post-modern novel before the term really existed. It's clearly twenty years ahead of it's time and reads like a foundation for books by Burroughs and Pynchon and the French new novel movement of the '50s, though shockingly American in every way.

Set against the backdrop of WWII and the rise of fascism, this surrealist novel examines the war that takes place endless within the psyche, both of the individual and society. It breaks all conventions of plot and narrative structure as it attempts to break open the conventions of novel writing, which Patchen (primarily a poet) seems to hold in low regard.

In many ways, this feels like an accessible Finnagan's Wake in that it is a love of language, a tribute to the written word liberated from the weight of plot and character development. Anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, anti-conventions, this is still a profound novel almost 80 years after it's publication, so I can just imagine the total shock it caused when it debuted.

Um...Nope!

Over the past decade or so, I've seen this annoying little elf pop up here and there. Seeing as how I didn't have children, I paid no attention to it. I thought it was little more than a game. It wasn't until this season that I learned the purpose of this terrible symbol.

So devilish imp is Santa's spy? Parents move it each night so that kids will think it is real? He's watching kids to make sure they are being good and reporting it back to Santa? That's the basic idea from what I can gather, and I think it's terrible. I get you want kids to behave, and Santa is often invoked to coerce children into behaving, but this goes a little too far. 

Given that we live in a society where we know that we are under constant surveillance, both by our government and many corporations, the last thing I want is to normalize this for my child. I don't want her to accept it and I don't want to make into a game. So this is a tradition that I will never take up and will urge all my parenting friends to avoid as well.

Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend is here, the last one before the holiday weekend. And though I really hate posting the Roundup without having posted anything else between the last one, I decided to go ahead as this will be the last one before my year-end roundup. I wanted to get in a bunch of 2018 releases that I recently listened to and threw in a past release that I'd been meaning to include for some time. Enjoy.

Kurt Vile - Bottle It In: With his tenth album. the Philly native and once member of The War on Drugs continues to establish himself as one of the premier folk rock artists of the time. This album doesn't stray from the sound he's created on his previous records. He swaggers through these guitar heavy tracks with confidence and bravado and delivers another quality record. "Rollin with the Flow," "Check Baby," and "Come Again" are personal favorites of mine.  

Black Thought - Streams of Thought Vol. 2: Following the first volume released earlier this year, the Roots man released the second volume of hard hitting rhymes last month. Like the last volume, this gets right down the beginnings of Black Thought's career, using jazz influences and socially conscious lyrics to talk about the world as he sees it. The two EPs combined make for an incredible listen and some of the best hip-hop released this year. 

Ordos - Ordos: The self-released debut from the Swedish stoner metal band is one I sought out after loving their official debut two years ago. As expected, this one is less polished, but the rawness of it actually serves the band well. There's something primal that comes out in these recordings as opposed to the more orchestrated doom of the official release. This six track record is pretty much flawless stoner metal, with "Hounds of Hell," "Crossing Over," and "The Witch" being standouts. 

Electric Citizen - Helltown: The third album from the Ohio heavy psych band falls somewhere between many genres. It's not exactly stoner rock, not exactly power metal, and certainly not what I often think of as heavy psych. There are definite NWOBHM influences that remind me of Iron Maiden. This is a band I'd been meaning to check out since their debut four years ago, but never got around to it until now. "Heart Attack," "Ripper," "The Pawn," and "Mother's Little Reject" are my personal favorites.

Death Valley Girls - Darkness Rains: Garage rock bands from L.A. rarely seem to disappoint me, so when I came across this album, the band's third, I wasn't about to skip over it. I'm glad I didn't. This is a blistering garage noise rock album that never really lets up from start to finish. It reminds me of early Yeah Yeah Yeahs with an West Coast psych feel. "More Dead," "Wear Black," "Abre Camino," and "Street Justice" are among my favorites.

Ty Segall - Fudge Sandwich: With his fourth album of the year, I'm left wondering if Ty Segall ever sleeps. This album of covers is another exception piece of lo-fi garage rock with incredible re-workings on songs by Funkadelic, John Lennon, Neil Young, and others. "Slowboat," "Lo Rider," "The Loner," "Class War," and "Isolation" are my personal favorites on this delightful covers record.

Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend has arrived and there are two roundups left before I put together my best of the year list. So I'm trying to listen to a bunch of remaining 2018 albums that I have in the que. This week I bring my thoughts on seven releases from this year, some are in definite consideration for the best of list, others not, but definitely worthy of a listen. Hopefully there's something on here for you to discover before the end of the year. Enjoy.

Bill Ryder-Jones - Yawn: The latest solo record from former member and founding guitarist of The Coral is another beautifully crafted indie singer songwriter album in the style of Nick Drake with shoegaze guitar breaking through every now an again. Over the past decade he has consistently released these quiet wonderful albums, and this might be the best yet. One great line sums up his style for me, when he sings, "there's a fortune to be had in telling everyone your sad." Lots of great songs on here, including "There's Something on Your Mind," "Time Will be the Only Savior," "And Then There's You," and "No One's Trying to Kill You." 

The Good, The Bad, and the Queen - Merrie Land: It's been 11 years since the Damon Albarn project released it's last (and only) album. Of course, he's been busy with Gorillaz, Blur and six million other things he's always doing, but I'm definitely glad this is a project he returned to. Like the s/t debut, this is a record lovely surreal record that blends dark cabaret with elements of art pop to create something poignant and special. "Gun to the Head," "Ribbons," "The Poison Tree," and the title track are my personal favorites. 

She Makes War - Brace for Impact: The fifth album from the London singer songwriter Laura Kidd has a 90's rock feel, with influences from grunge, The Breeders, and rrriot grrrl bands, but fused with a pop rock sensibility that makes it sound current. I definitely enjoyed this record and feel confident that a lot of her favorite artists are also mine. "Devastate Me," "Hold On," "Undone," and "Let Me Down," are personal favorites for me. 

The Myrrors - Borderlands: The sixth album in 10 years from the Arizona psych band is one of those albums the mixes psychedelic folk with drone to create lengthy soundscapes. I listened to this one while driving through the autumn rain and it made a great soundtrack for that experience. It's probably the kind of album that won't get a ton of listens in my world, mostly because it demands some time and attention to fully appreciate the world it creates. Certainly worth exploring if drone psych is your thing. 

Plastic Tears - Angels with Attitude: This glam band from Finland has been around for a long time, but has released only three albums, each nine years apart. This is the newest one, released this year and it reminds me a lot of the only other Finnish glam band that I know, Hanoi Rocks. This is definitely a throwback to 80's glam metal, and it succeeds at times at capturing the best of that genre, though it also falls into some of the traps that represent the aspects of the genre that people despise. Interesting for those who are curious to hear what's happening in the revived world of what is referred to as "hair metal." 

Tina Dickow - Fastland: This is the tenth album from the Danish folk pop artist (also known as Tina Dico). I was first turned on to her work with her 2010 release, four albums ago. She's got an amazing voice that fluctuates easily between pop and folk, as does the music on her albums, enough so that I don't mind the more pop elements that otherwise would not interest me. "Parked Car," "Not Even Close," and "People are Strange" are my personal favorites. 

Weedcamp - Weedcamp: The debut record from the German stoner rock band is six instrumental grooves that kind of get everything right. A lot of times, at least for me, a lot of stoner rock bands kind of get the levels wrong, or go too heavy on the drums, or loose focus...hence the pitfalls hinted at in the genre name. This is nice short album that doesn't stray from what it's best at and I found myself feeling it throughout. You can check it out on their Bandcamp page linked above.

Alice in Paris

One of the great things about being a collector of stuff that is supposed to appeal to children is when your child discovers something you didn't know you had. My daughter wanted to look at all of our movies the other day and so I opened the cabinet where we keep the DVDs that we never watch and she found this one and said, "That's Alice! Can we watch that?"

The movie in question is a little known 1966 Czech/American production called Alice of Wonderland in Paris. Being a huge Alice enthusiast, I acquired this DVD years ago. Upon my daughter's discover, it was still unopened and unwatched. 

Now I had an excuse to watch it, and I took it. We made a Daddy & Me afternoon and watched Alice in Paris. This isn't really an Alice story, she's used more as a frame tale to show three illustrated stories, one by Crockett Johnson, another one about the moon, and Madeline and the Bad Hat. I was thrilled with the Madeline and Alice connection, two of my favorite storybook characters. 

The animation was very 60's cartoon style, as was the voice work, which isn't surprising seeing that William Snyder of Tom & Jerry and Popeye fame, produced it. All in all, it was interesting, entertaining, but certainly for Alice completionists only.

Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend is here and the Roundup is back. With the holidays, I missed a few weekends, but that just means a few extra ramblings on this list. Though mostly new releases, there's some other discoveries thrown into the mix here. The genres span the spectrum pretty much, with metal, garage, folk, and jazz all represented. In the coming weeks, I will be trying to compile my best of the year list, and as always, it's going to be tough. Until then, keep discovering, keep listening, and enjoy.

L.A. Witch - Octubre: The new EP from the L.A. based all female garage rock band is one of the best discoveries of the year for me. Somehow I missed their debut album last year and picked this up, because, one, I'm a sucker for any band with L.A. in their name, and two, it has the look of the kind of noise rock I like. This is fantastic west coast style garage rock that reminded me a lot of Sweet 75. The only down side is that it is only an EP, so I will now have to seek out the album I missed. Don't miss this one. 

Cat Stevens - The World of Cat Stevens: This compilation was released in 1970 across Europe, featuring songs from Cat's first two albums and other early career work that went overlooked. With the success of "Mona Bone Jakon," his third album, in 1970, Decca saw a chance to sell this work in a new package. I love Cat Steven's early '70s work and grew up listening to it as a young child. These songs showcase his transition from pop folk into more serious songwriting. I found this in the 4 fro $10 bin at the local shop and snatched it up. There are great lost tracks on here including "granny," "here comes my baby," "I'm gonna get me a gun," "kitty," and "the first cut is the deepest."

Phosphorescent - C'est la vie: The seventh album from the indie folk rock band is their first in five years. Much like My Morning Jacket, this is a indie band that draws from country roots to create the kind of folk rock that is has been around for the past decade. This is also one of those bands who I've been waiting for a breakthrough release that fully captures the potential brilliance that seems to exist on each album. And while this album has those elements, it's still not the one I've been hoping for. Lots of great sounds on here and certainly solid.

Moonface - This One's for the Dancer and This One's for the Dancer's Bouquet: This is the fourth album that Spencer Krug (Sunset Rubdown, Wolf Parade, etc.) has released under the Moonface moniker. This seems to be a semi-concept album with a reoccurring theme of songs surrounding the Minotaur and his labyrinth. Despite the concept, this is easily the most accessible of the Moonface albums, with song structures similar to Wolf Parade, his most successful project. I really enjoyed this album, as I've enjoyed all of his albums.

Jelly Roll Morton - Blues and Stomps from Rare Piano Rolls: One of the early pioneers of jazz, Jelly Roll Morton was a unique piano player that changed the way the instrument was played, and later influenced the way it would be used in R&B and blues rock. This collection of early recordings showcases his skills on a number of tracks. I picked thus up for a $4 a few weeks ago and it's a great weekend morning groove to start the day. He had a hipness that is unlike any other.

First Aid Kit - Live from the Rebel Hearts Club: This live EP from the Swedish folk duo was released in the summer and I'm just getting around to listening to it. The live setting showcases their extreme talent, but the weird thing about this live record is that there is zero indication of an audience. It's strange, but not problematic. They play a traditional folk style of music that is beautiful and touching. The version of "Rebel Heart" on this recording is outstanding.

Grave Disgrace - Sabbatharium: This is the third album from the Russian stoner doom metal band and it's exactly the way I like my stoner doom metal. The recipe for me is a heavy undertone with extra-muddled Layne Staley emotion in the vocals that take the listener down a drain into a world even heavier than one the music alone can create. And one thing that I would never criticize a band for, though many do when it comes to doom metal bands, is sounding too much like Black Sabbath.