Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Top 10 CDs of 2018


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

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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