2019 has wearily made its appearance. Having just returned
from a trip out to South Carolina to watch my son play in an All-American Bowl,
exhaustion barely allowed us to watch the ball drop before we were all deep in
dreams.
At this point, I am usually two clicks away from posting
my Top Ten list, but not today; today I am staring at a blank page and a
flashing cursor. I’ve been tracking my music purchases and shifting positions,
so the list has some form to it, but there will be some last-minute shifts for
sure.
In truth, I almost said fuck it. I mean I don’t really
have a blog anymore. I write one post at the end of the year that my wife and
mom will read, but that’s about it. Okay, you; you’ll read it, and I appreciate
that, but that is it, just my wife, my mom, and you.
So why do it?
Because I am a sucker for tradition, and I don’t have it
in me to quit.
Before diving in, let’s talk about the albums that didn’t
make it because of my rules (Oh yeah, I do have rules. See any of my other Top
Tens from past years for a list of the rules. Ain’t nobody got time for that
today) but still deserve a mention.
Live CDs, unless they are a live recording of brand new
songs, are a no go. It’s apples to honey dew, and that’s not how I get down.
That being said, City and Colour released Guide
Me Back Home, and it is a gorgeous recording. HIGHLY recommend.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit dropped Live
from the Ryman, and it too is worthy of a purchase.
Similarly, EPs are not in contention. I mean, I love that
an artist put out 5 amazing songs, but I want more. I deserve more, and so do
you. That being said. Nasir
by Nas is incredible and is currently my son’s get-up disc before basketball
games. Nasir is 7 songs, so it almost made to cut, but I decided more was
needed. Boygenius
by Boygenius is the collaboration we have all been waiting for, and Your Smith
put out Bad
Habit, which hopefully foreshadows the great things to come from
Caroline Smith’s new project.
With the formalities out of the way, let’s dive in.
New Moon was a hard one for me. It barely made the list. Loma,
Ume, and August Greene all made a run at it, but the strength of Lee’s vocals
and the lyrical content won me over. Here is my issue with New Moon, the
production, the treatment of the songs covered their pure beauty. If you
stripped anyone of these 10 tracks down to Amos and his guitar, it could have
been song of the year for me. And to be clear, it wasn’t the production on every
song. “Hang On, Hang On” is everything I love about Lee’s work. “Don’t Fade
Away” is uncluttered, allowing the listener to really embrace the emotion of
the lyric. Unfortunately, the power of “No More Darkness, No More Light” is
clouded by an electronic rendition that seems out of place to these ears, and
to select that track as the opener just baffled me. Was that Lee’s decision or
some suit trying to grab a younger audience? I don’t know, but I do not approve.
“Louisville” elicited the same response from me. There were pluses and minuses
for me, and that is why it landed in the 10 spot. On voice alone, there is no
other male singer that I would rather listen to. Lyrically, it is definite Top
5, just questions some of the production decisions.
You want some last-minute changes? I bought this yesterday
after reading an RFT Article. Embarrassingly, I didn’t even know they released
new music this year. I am really good about checking iTunes new releases every
Friday, going to the Wiki page for new releases, etc., but somehow Nearer My God escaped me. For fans of
Foxing it is what you would expect, but better. They got some polish with Chris
Walla in the booth, and they are just better musicians. You cannot tour as much
as they do and not perfect your craft. The harmonies on “Nearer My God” stand
out, as does the musical tapestry that “Five Cups” weaves. As someone that has
called St. Louis home since 1998, I loved seeing tracks called “Crown Candy” and
“Lambert.” I’d be lying if I said I don’t need to spend more time with this
recording, but the elements are all so strong, that it demanded relevance.
The Bird and the
Rifle snuck up on me in 2016, so when I caught wind that McKenna was releasing
new music in 2018, I was ready. Picking up from her 2016 release, The Tree features her incredible way
with words and that storyteller’s voice. The combination makes it impossible
for me to shift the album to background music. When it is playing, I am there,
in the story, watching the images McKenna paints appear before my eyes, each
character and old friend that I am happy to see. This is the album that men
struggling to appreciate the women in their life and women fighting for their
self-worth need to hear. So many tracks with strong messages that need to land
on eager ears.
I am pretty sure I once said that Foucault was one of the
best songwriters of his generation. That has not changed. Blood Brothers opens with “Dishes;” and, out of the gate, I am left
thinking, damn, I could never write something that good. It is pure poetry:
Swing the axe
In the hour before daylight
Note the sparks
That attend to the blade
A thing made free
Of itself leaps apart
And the heart divided
Would do just the same
In the hour before daylight
Note the sparks
That attend to the blade
A thing made free
Of itself leaps apart
And the heart divided
Would do just the same
The disc never lets up. The production is clean and understated,
highlighting the lyric, the vocals, and the emotions being offered. I’d be hard
pressed to pick a favorite track. It is such a complete album. It’s the kind of
disc that may get lost on the shelf from time to time, but when you put it on,
you immediately regret not listening to it every day.
My guts says if you loved Coming Home you either hated this recording or were obsessed with
it. Put me in the obsessed camp. Good
Thing starts out with that neo-soul vibe that makes you appreciate Bridges
for reclaiming an era that, despite the art that was being created, was pretty fucked
up, but immediately it jumps the listener to the jazziest groove I have heard
in a long time. If “Bad Bad News” doesn’t make you want to snap a finger and
shake your ass, I’d check your pulse. And the guitar work is sick, like take me
to the shrink cause this man just blew my mind, sick. Track to track it is
solid. So much smoky goodness. I get stank face just listening to it. If I had
to pick one track, “Mrs.” is straight-up the sexiest song recorded in 2018. I
promise you babies are being made to that song right now. If you are done
having kids, press skip when you come to track 9.
I could not tell you where I heard about Smith, but I sure
am glad I paid attention. Every time I spin Starfire I am left thinking, damn
what I great recording. It’s got the Nashville polish without the forced crossover
appeal. It crosses over naturally, no 808 and some cheesy embedded country rap
needed. Her vocals are powerful and clear. The lyrics are exceptional. She is
painting movies that unfold before the listeners with closed eyes. Too many
standout tracks to list, but “This Town Is Killing Me” is the song every
singer/songwriter that has tried to make it wishes they would have written.
I pour my heart out, three
minutes at a time
On a J-45, but no one's
listening
They're too busy drinking on the
company tab
I scream my lungs out, confess
my secrets, all my sins
But they don't give a damn
Cause if it don't sound like the
radio? Pass
I always feel like a poser trying to talk about hip-hop.
While I am confident in my knowledge of Americana, Blues, Funk, Country, Rock, and
Soul, I do not have the pedigree to adequately explain why one hip-hop CD is
better than another, so I’ll just say this, my family has bumped to Everything is Love on several roadtrips.
The songs are inviting, Beyonce’s rich vocals juxtaposed against Jay-Z’s expert
flow, both sitting on-top very musical tracks. “Apeshit” gets the car hype, “Black
Effect” gets us thinking, and “LoveHappy” just leaves us feeling good.
I am going to be flat out honest, I had never heard of J
Cole before KOD, and I only heard of him because I became mildly obsessed with Lost in Vegas
which is a YouTube Channel where Ryan and George record their reactions to
songs. My initial interest was seeing their legitimate joy when hearing Chris
Stapleton kill it. They have also done reactions to Jason Isbell, which were incredible,
but my favorite videos of theirs are when they review hip-hop. Like I said above,
I do not have the pedigree, but they do, and I learn so much when I listen to them
talk about the genre. They did a full
album review of KOD, and I was sold. That disc has probably received as
many plays as any other album that I purchased in 2018. If you’ve got an hour,
go watch that video. They do such a great job of explaining why the album is so
good. If you want to listen to one track, “1985” is incredible. My favorite
line may seem so simple but it is SO slick.
Congrats 'cause you made it out
your mama's house
I hope you make enough to buy
your mom a house
As a writer, the way he uses the similar sound of “mama”
and “mom a” is fuckin’ genius level shit.
They are back, and they are in the same spot. On the
heels of the critically acclaimed Sleeping
Through the War which was produced by Grammy award winner, David Cobb, All Them
Witches flipped the script and decided to produce Atw themselves. They slayed it. It breathes differently, but it is
every bit All Them Witches. Like last year, Atw
quickly became Teddy’s get-up CD for football games, so we listened to it A LOT.
So many times that even Wendy Mae can sing all the songs. He also asked me to
use “Fishbelly 86 Onions” for his highlight
video this year, so that held some weight. But we also got to see All Them
Witches twice this year. Once in Columbia as a four piece and then in St. Louis
as a three piece. They fuckin’ killed it. Watching them makes me miss being in
a band more than any band I have seen in recent memory. The interplay. The
tightness, but the willingness and ability to take the song where it wants to
go on that particular night. You can tell they love what they are doing, and
that makes all the difference. Atw feels like a live recording. It has that
energy that is often lost when a producer is trying to make a hit instead of an
album. I love this entire recording, but “Fishbelly 86 Onions,” “Workhorse,”
and “Half-Tongue” standout for different reasons – energy, lyrics, and groove. Still,
the track I put on repeat is “Harvest Feast.” I mean, a straight slow blues jam?
Come on. Ya damn right I am listening to that one again. I started playing
guitar because I have a big ass voice, and I want to play the blues like BB. “Harvest
Feast” is just an evolved BB, like if BB and Black Sabbath decided to
collaborate.
For once I am not alone on my number one, NPR and Paste
both agreed with me. Historian has
been sitting in that spot since March when it dropped, and nothing came along
to bump it off. It is not just Dacus’s mesmerizing voice and her intrapersonal
but universally accessible lyrics that helped her make the list in 2016. With Historian it is the band, too. They are
incredible musicians. The drummer provided some of my favorite tracks, and watching
him do it live it is real treat. The bassist solidly lays the foundations, allowing
the rest of the band to have maximum expression as they build the track. The
lead guitarist tastefully drapes the songs in covers that were made for new lovers, always adding never detracting
from the song. And the auxiliary musicians that they brought in for the recording
followed a similar pattern, contributing but never overwhelming the recording. The
true sign of a great album is the merit of the individual songs, and there are
no throwaways on Historian. I’d have
to fight myself between “Addictions” and “Pillar of Truth” for favorite song,
but then “Timefighter” would step in and kick the shit out of all of them, me,
and anyone who is listening.
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