My Top 100 Albums of 2019 (4 Months Late But Not a Buck Short)
Yeah, yeah, I know: it’s May 2020 and I’m just posting my best albums of 2019. Between work, travel and COVID, it’s taken me awhile, but I hope it’s worth […]
My 25 Favorite Songs of 2019
“Not” by Big Thief (from Two Hands) – Urgent, dramatic and fuzzy, driven by an odd guitar solo and Adrienne Lenker’s unique voice “Western” by black midi (from Schlagenheim) – […]
Album of the Week: Black Keys, “Let’s Rock”
The Black Keys’ latest release (their first in five years) ought to win the “Truth in Advertising” award. (If there isn’t such an award, there should be.) ”Let’s Rock” captures […]
Album of the Week: Mannequin Pussy, Patience
If you’ve going to call your band Mannequin Pussy, you’d better be good. Damn good. Otherwise, you’re just a band with a name that conjures an oddly disturbing image. (Unless […]
Album of the Week: Bruce Springsteen, Western Stars
After over 50 years as a working musician (an entire lifetime: “I’ve never held an honest job in my entire life!,” he told us during his Broadway show), you’d think […]
My 13 “Go-To” Albums
What are the albums you come back to time and time again? The ones you listen to not because they’re classics (although they may well be) but for comfort, for that long car ride, for that specific memory, or because they move you in some profound way? I got thinking […]
Top 100 Albums of 2018: #25-1
#25: Natalie Prass, The Future and the Past The Future and the Past starts off with “Oh My,” a slinky slice of ‘70s dance pop. “Short Court Style” and “Sisters” […]
Top 100 Albums of 2018: #50-26
#50: Gulfer, Dog Bless Canadian indie rock group that plays in odd time signatures, which often change (sometimes multiply) within the same track. Tempos shift, the music starts and stops […]
Top 100 Albums of 2018: #75-51
#75: Preoccupations, New Material Goth electronica, like an angrier, less dance-friendly New Order with pounding percussion. “Decompose” is driven by an urgent triplet bass figure and augmented by a downward […]
Top 100 Albums of 2018: #100-76
#100: Kyle Craft, Full Circle Nightmare If Kyle Craft’s voice and music doesn’t give it away, his hairdo (see the album cover) will: ’70s glam rock. You’ll hear lots of […]