Best Of 2018: The Top 25

Another year is coming to a close. In light of the daily outrages on the geo-political stage, I am likely not the only one more fervently seeking solace and acknowledgment in music. Thankfully, some of our finest artists met that need with incredible records in 2018. What follows are the 25 that not only rose to every standard of excellence but engaged me on a deeper level, bonding to my very soul. Is that too high-falutin’ a sentiment for you? What else do you expect from AnEarful?

1. Holly Miranda - Mutual Horse Not only is Miranda’s third album a beautiful work of art, it’s also an act of giving - to her listeners, to her family, and to herself. 

2. Jonathan Wilson - Rare Birds On his third album proper, Wilson took more chances musically, lyrically, and production-wise. What hasn’t changed is his wide-eyed sincerity and optimism. Some parts of the hippie ideal were worth preserving, after all, especially if the music sounds this incredible.  

3. Pusha T - Daytona It was a mad year for Kanye West fans but at least we got this one classic out of it, along with parts of Kids See Ghosts and Teyana Taylor’s album. Pusha T’s "luxury street rap" never sounded more incised in stone and some of the lyrics even allow for hints of self-reflection. As the man says, If You Know You Know. 

4. Olivia De Prato - Streya Stop with the Bach. This is how you make a 21st Century violin record. 

5. Natalie Prass - The Future and the Past Matthew E. White and the Spacebomb house band stretch themselves to realize Prass’s booty-shaking R&B visions. The results are sharp as a tack, with pinpoint rhythms and hooks galore. Prass delivers the songwriting goods as well, managing to always stay tuneful and positive while also letting you know that she’s very aware of all the social and political situations that are keeping us off-kilter - and the vicissitudes of romance that can have the same effect. 

6. Andy Jenkins - Sweet Bunch Speaking of Spacebomb, this masterclass in songwriting by Jenkins receives the absolutely perfect sound from White, with swampy guitars, a small choir singing backup on some songs, and the typically excellent rhythm work by Spacebomb house band members Cameron Ralston (bass) and Pinson Chanselle (drums). Jenkins’s slightly rueful yet wise persona finds apt expression in his Nilsson-esque voice and all the elements add up to an addictive delight. 

7. Hollie Cook - Vessel Of Love Switching to Youth as producer and including Jah Wobble (PiL) and Keith Levene (The Clash, PiL) among the players leads to what I call post-punk’s reggae revenge - and revenge never sounded so sweet. 

8. Jonny Greenwood - Phantom Thread and You Were Never Really Here Another annus mirabilis for fans of the Radiohead guitarist’s film music as he showed off two of his sides: darkly romantic in the score to the Paul Thomas Anderson masterpiece (four words I’ve never put together before) and just dark in the soundscapes for the disappointing Joaquin Phoenix (also not a common phrase!) feature. I have high hopes that Greenwood scores an Oscar this time around. See the movies or don’t - but listen no matter what. 

9. Christopher Trapani - Waterlines I called the title piece, written in the Katrina aftermath and based on old blues and country classics, an instant classic when I heard it performed by Lucy Dhegrae and the Talea Ensemble, the same forces who grace this recording. The other pieces are also excellent, risky, and fascinating. 

10. Palm - Rock Island On their second album - and a major leap from their 2015 debut - Palm’s tricky time signatures, glossy textures, and bright melodies keep me in a suspended state of sparkle while I listen. Live, their jams are weightier, which wasn’t a bad thing at all. 

11. Anna Thorvaldsdottir - Aequa This new portrait album of the Icelandic composer’s work, performed with authority by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), is yet another showcase of her wondrous work. Thorvaldsdottir is significant because her compositional scaffolding is among the strongest of anyone writing today, but her interest in recorded sound elevates her work into an almost tactile experience. From the first notes of Scape, a solo work for prepared piano (played by Cory Smyth), you can't help but be drawn into her vivid musical imagination. Long may she reign!

12. Shame - Songs Of Praise My love of angular post-punk rock is strong enough that I can overlook some of the familiarity I feel when listening to this young band. Also, the unity of their attack and sense of conviction about what they’re doing makes for a killer album. The sky’s the limit, boys!

13. Du Yun - Dinosaur Scar The only recent Pulitzer Prize winner who’s even more of a badass than Kendrick Lamar, Du Yun manages to harness her big ideas into concise nuggets of passionate information. As she said at a recent concert, “Through music, I always want to tell stories about human relationships,” so the results are far from abstraction. It’ll be a while before we all catch up with her, but this album, persuasively performed by ICE (do they ever sleep??) closes that distance by some measure. 

14. Mutual Benefit - Thunder Follows The Light Listening to Jordan Lee, the one constant member of Mutual Benefit, follow his muse and develop his songwriting into its current hymn-like state has been a central pleasure of our young century. Horns and strings, and almost no drums, push this gorgeous album further toward pastoral chamber pop and I will follow Lee as far as he wants to go down that road. 

15. Anna St. Louis - If Only There Was A River This enigmatic singer somehow manages to sound both completely contemporary and as if she’s been with us forever. Exquisitely sensitive production and stunning songwriting make this one for the ages. 

16. Scott Johnson - Mind Out Of Matter Only Johnson, the master of orchestrated speech, could turn a lecture about religion and evolution into a piece compelling enough for repeated listening. And only Alarm Will Sound (still missing Matt Marks...) could play this complex score with such tossed-off assurance. 

17. Bodega - Endless Scroll I caught these wise and witty art-punk pranksters on one of New Sounds’ Facebook Live performances and was immediately captivated by their energy. Sometimes I laugh out loud at a lyric on the subway. Instead of giving me side-eye, just get the album!

18. Arp - Zebra Lush, cinematic, jazz-and-electronics-infused atmospheres for dreaming. By pulling in more influences but caring less about treating them with kid gloves, Alexis Georgopoulos has made his most distinctive record yet.

19. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino Alex Turner’s mind map of the titular structure provided him a means of escape from the cul de sac AM found themselves in after their last album. What was next - louder and heavier? Why? This was a brave direction to take - and one they executed to perfection. Book a room and see if you agree it’s even better than “four stars out of five.”

20. Elsa Hewitt - Quilt Jams As I said in the latest issue of Off Your Radar when I included one of Hewitt’s electronic fantasias on my mixtape: “With or without vocals, each track feels like a psychic transmission filled with crucial information about how we live now.” Dial it in. 

21. Scott Hirsch - Lost Time Behind The Moon What a delightful surprise this album is! I’ve long known Scott Hirsch’s name from the deep dive I took into Hiss Golden Messenger’s history a few years ago, but on this sophomore release, he seems to cut loose from all forebears and find a truly individual expression. There’s plenty of variety within as well, from rootsy fingerpicked delicacies to funky Rhythm Ace-driven workouts. I've added seeing Hirsch headline to my 2019 goals. 

22. Dan Lippel, et al - ...Through Which the Past Shines... Exquisite, modern chamber music for guitar by Nils Vigeland and Reiko Füting played with warmth and authority by Lippel (also heard to great effect on the Du Yun album above), joined occasionally by John Popham on cello and Vigeland on piano. I'm also enjoying the opportunity to further explore Füting's sound world on the recently released distant song.

23. Jeff Tweedy - Warm Even though this is Tweedy's first "official" solo album, it also feels like the return of an old friend. The quiet songs seem to contain banked fires, instead of just being quiet, and the lyrics are even more acute than ever, perhaps a reflection on his recent work writing his memoir. 

24. Raoul Vignal - Oak Leaf This French singer-songwriter's second album is like a warm blanket. Each time I listen to his whisper-singing, fingerpicked guitar, and gentle accompaniments, I feel ensconced in its hushed universe.

25. Domenico Lancellotti - The Good Is A Big God A lot of people view Brazilian music in their rearview, appreciating and delighting in its extraordinary legacy. Lancellotti proves that this legacy has a future with this album's kaleidoscopic view of Brazil's many musical streams, from bossa nova and samba to tropicalia and beyond. 

Excerpts to all of these, except Scott Johnson and Raoul Vignal, are found in this playlist or below. Listen and let me know what moves you.



Still to come: genre-specific lists highlighting the best of classical, electronic, hip hop, R&B, reggae, rock, folk, reissues and everything else!

You may also enjoy:
Best Of 2017: The Top 25
Best Of 2017: Classical
Best Of 2017: Out Of The Past
Best Of 2017: Electronic
Best Of 2017: Hip Hop, R&B and Reggae
Best Of 2017: Rock, Folk, Etc.

The Best Of 2018 (So Far)

Anyone who is not completely overwhelmed with musical choice in 2018 is either not paying attention, stuck in a rut, or phenomenally lazy. In my Of Note In 2018 playlist, for example, I’m tracking over 400 releases from all genres and the year is just at the halfway point. As a point of comparison, the same playlist in 2017 topped out at just over 500 entries. Unless we’re due for a sonic drought over the next six months, this should be a banner year. Of course music is not a numbers game and when it comes down to what is going to nourish your head, heart and body, there’s always going to be those few that demand compulsive listening and get you through your days. Here are the 25 new albums that are really doing it for me this year.

1. Holly Miranda - Mutual Horse Through the alchemy of her craft, Miranda transmutes difficulties in her life into glorious sonic adventures while never losing touch with the raw emotions behind it all. 

2. Jonathan Wilson - Rare Birds Despite a dodgy lyric or two, Wilson’s third album is a passionate masterpiece filled with intricate layers, novel textures, and less fealty to classic rock tropes and traditions. Need convincing? If you’re in NYC on July 29th, let him close the deal at a free concert at the Lincoln Center Out Of Doors festival. 

3. Pusha-T - Daytona Cutting through the noise of Kanye West’s “no apology tour,” this first in a string of spring releases from G.O.O.D. Music’s Wyoming sessions delivered ALL the goods. West’s production is both diamond-sharp and packed with grit, marrying rare soul samples with sleek beats to stunning effect. Even better, it is solely focused on showing off King Push’s precise and passionate flow, dripping with contempt for his inferiors and pride in all he’s accomplished. In addition to his trademark cocaine rap and salvos in an epic beef with Drake, Push takes time out in Santeria to remember his friend and road manager, De’von Pickett, expressing the pain and vulnerability he felt in the wake of his murder: “The Lord is my shepherd, I am not sheep/I am just a short stone's throw from the streets/I bring my offerin', I will not preach/Awaken my demons, you can hear that man screaming/I'm no different than the priest...” At just 27 minutes, Daytona is a heat-seeking missile that wastes no time and hits targets over and over again with devastating accuracy. On his third solo album, Pusha-T has finally matched the consistency and power of his best work with Clipse. The fact that Kanye, whose loyalty to the culture has been in serious question, crafted these perfect beats and bequeathed them to his colleague is a sign that there is still love in the man - and maybe hope for us all. In fact, West might have benefited from a few of the beats here and on Kids See Ghosts, his very good collaboration with Kid Cudi. His own album, despite having its moments, was the weakest of his career.

4. Olivia De Prato - Streya Like Michael Nicolas's cello album Transitions from 2016, De Prato's solo debut is as perfect an exemplar of a modern single-instrument album as you're going to hear. Flawlessly played and curated, Streya is an unforgettable journey through the sonic possibilities of the violin.

5. Hollie Cook - Vessel Of Love Third time and continuing to charm, Cook's delicious update on rocksteady reggae comes with a bittersweet sting that just makes it more addictive. 

6. Natalie Prass - The Future And The Past When I saw Prass back in 2015, she used a customized mix of 90's R&B and hip hop to warm up the crowd before her set. So I was not entirely surprised to find her second album full of intricate and slyly funky grooves. Not only is her versatility on full display here, but so is that of Matthew E. White, once again in the producer's chair, and his stellar band of Richmond, VA musos. While there are still plenty of the intimate relationship songs Prass is known for, like Lost ("I get lost, I get lost, when I'm with you/But at what cost, at what cost, do I let you do what you do"), there are also politically acute numbers like Sisters ("One time for our girls at school/Who can’t get ahead no matter what they do/And when they grow up and they try to work/Oh no, but they ain’t nothing but the shorter skirt, hey") and Ship Goes Down ("And I will never kneel when/Power is in fear/And aimed upon me/Oh no, no, I am never drowning"). One model here is the world-beating songwriting of Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of Chic, who always tried to have "big idea" on which to hang their gossamer but deep dance tracks. Part of the disco movement was about solidarity among outsiders, literally expressed on the dance floor. So invite your friends and neighbors over for a Prass party and when the sun comes up call your elected officials and remind them who they work for.

7. Father John Misty - God’s Favorite Customer Mr. Tillman shows no sign of slowing down, following up 2017’s epic Pure Comedy with this relatively stripped-down collection of songs. Featuring both his trademark dark humor and a new sense of vulnerability, even if occasionally cloaked in 70’s soft-rock bathos, Tillman knocks a few new holes in his wheelhouse on his fourth release as FJM. Jonathan Rado’s smart production can also have a rocked-out edge, something that’s been MIA since Fear Fun in 2012. 

8. Jonny Greenwood - Phantom Thread and You Were Never Really Here OK, I know I'm cheating here, but maybe by the end of 2018 I'll figure out which side of Greenwood I like better: the Bernard Herrmann-esque romantic of Phantom Thread or the chilly dealer in dread of YWNRH. Both are tours de force of cinematic music-making that intrigue and delight whether you've seen the films or not.

9. Palm - Rock Island Shimmering blasts of knotty repetition define the sound of this Philly-based art-rock band, combining the brittle funk of Talking Heads with sunshine-drenched melodies in a single-minded pursuit of cerebral ecstasy. See them live if you can!

10. Scott Johnson and Alarm Will Sound - Mind Out Of Matter Johnson is the master of notating speech and composing musical accompaniment, a technique he’s been perfecting since the 1970’s. These settings of the philosophical, theological and scientific musings of Prof. Daniel C. Dennett (based on his book Breaking the Spell (Religion as a Natural Phenomenon)) show a new subtlety in Johnson’s approach to language. And the music is so full of sparkle and interest that you will keep listening long after you’ve absorbed all the text. Naturally, the playing by Alarm Will Sound is virtuosic and full of verve, a fitting reminder of the extraordinary legacy of their founder, Matt Marks, who died suddenly earlier this year. Come out to Roulette on Thursday, August 16th as the new music community gathers to remember him with performances and conversation.

11. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel Smart songwriting, gritty guitars and a tough rhythm section honed from two years of touring add up to Barnett’s most confident album yet, even if one song is called Crippling Self-Doubt And A General Lack Confidence. If we can name our fears, we can conquer them.

12. Andy Jenkins - Sweet Bunch The other great Spacebomb release in 2018, this is a sweet bunch of songs indeed, long on sticky melodies and hooks and full of heartfelt singing and expert playing. At this point Matthew E. White could start his own festival with just the artists he’s produced and it would instantly be one of the best in the land. 

13. Shame - Songs Of Praise Not the second coming, just a damned good rock album steeped in the verities of classic post-punk and filled with energy and invention. Still trying to see them live, hopefully I'll have a chance in the fall. 

14. Seabuckthorn - A House With Too Much Fire Andy Cartwright uses the organic textures of various guitars layered hypnotically with loops and electronics to create immersive mood exercises perfect for soundtracking your next walking meditation. 

15. Kali Uchis - Isolation After The Storm, one of the singles from this debut showed up in my Discover Weekly playlist (it can work!) and I was immediately in the groove. Having Bootsy Collins guest on bass and vocals didn’t hurt and somehow Tyler The Creator was restrained enough to not overshadow Uchis’s voice, which is both airy and earthy. That doesn’t mean I expected the album to be this strong, however, especially when I got a glimpse of the cheesy cover. But, lo and behold, Uchis has assembled one of the most compelling R&B albums of recent years, with catchy melodies, slinky beats and just enough wit and contemporary edge to keep it from being retro. Get some of these tracks on your BBQ playlist STAT. 

16. Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet - Landfall This elegy for NYC after Hurricane Sandy finds these old school avant gardists meshing seamlessly and producing one of the most soulful albums of their lengthy careers. 

17. Black Milk - FEVER Mainly known for his skills behind the boards, the Detroit-based producer-rapper fully comes into his own as a double threat on this album. Most importantly, his finesse on the mic has freed him up to make the most personal record of his career, full of relatable thoughts and feelings. He’s been on tour with a live band - show up and cheer him on. 

18. Maya Baiser - David Lang: The Day Made up of two lengthy works for cello, electronics and voice, this album sets in stone some of Lang’s finest music, World To Come (2003) and The Day (2016). Seeing Baiser perform them only confirmed how deeply involved she is in this music, playing their commemoration of the post-9/11 landscape with compassionate virtuosity. 

19. David Garland - Verdancy In which the New York radio legend moves to the country, borrows a guitar modified by his son for Sean Lennon, and uses it to explore previously unmapped terrain between folk and contemporary classical music. There’s only one track I don’t care for over four hours of music, so this is definitely verdant territory. 

20. Wang Lu - Urban Inventory This portrait recording features six of Lu's compositions performed by a starry array of ensembles including Third Sound, ICE, Alarm Will Sound and the Ensemble Intercontemporain. Their involvement is a tribute to Lu's dazzling music, which shows a complete  mastery of orchestration and dynamics as well as a polyglot style based on a broad field of influences. Listening is like being in the hands of a great storyteller as each piece pulls you through its narrative in a series of musical page turners. The vignettes of the title piece may be based on Lu's formative experiences in Beijing but her sonic translations are universal enough that any city dweller will feel a burst of recognition. Urban Inventory announces the arrival of an incredible talent whose gifts will likely only continue to grow.

21. Clarice Jensen - From This That Will Be Filled This solo debut from ACME's Artistic Director includes one of the last works by the late Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson alongside a piece by Michael Harrison and a two-part composition by Jensen herself. Jensen's ideas about what the cello can do in various enhanced environments are never less than fascinating and the playing and recording are always sublime.

22. Eddie Dixon - Coinstar On his first album in four years, this master of gnarled and tangled Americana strips down his sound, letting his guitar dole out rock & roll wisdom in between lyrics that limn the realms of the have-nots (“Everything’s a brass ring, everything's a sweepstakes car,” he sings in Coinstar, “If I get to heaven, can I finally see a doctor, please?”) and point out just how much American exceptionalism is based on oppression. This is the perfect companion to Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickeled And Dimed or Howard Zinn’s A People’s History Of The United States, but it’s got a beat and you can dance to it. If you feel scarred by Dixon’s scabrous wit, that’s just because we’re all implicated in one way or another.

23. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino We can all debate whether this is an Alex Turner solo project or a great, lost Last Shadow Puppets album, or we can just listen, floating off in a woozy fantasia of retro sci fi musings that take place in a future that seems strangely familiar. Turner slows down his usually motor-mouthed vocals to a Lennon-esque drawl that weaves its way through spacious arrangements of burbling bass, chamber-pop keyboards and witty drums. The guitars, so central to the Monkeys sound in the past, serve mainly as punctuation, a reflection of the fact that Turner did much of the songwriting on piano, which also expanded his melodic horizons. Kudos also to Turner's compatriots Jamie Cook (guitar, keys), Nick O'Malley (bass) and Matt Helders (drums) for strapping in for this unusual mission. I admire any band that can make a complete u-turn when following up their most successful album, potentially sloughing off legions of fans in the process (check out the Arctics Facebook page - not a comfortable place these days!), but the fact is I would book a long stay at Tranquility Base under any name.

24. Jane Church - Calimocho Molotov! I picked this up on cassette (download code included!) at one of their many gigs and, trust me, it's more fun than a vintage convertible on a sunny day. In wake of their recent signing to Greenway Records it seems the rest of you will have to wait for a more official release in the fall. Matt Stevenson writes and sings songs that stick and the backing by Ali Awan (lead guitar), Turner Stough (bass), and Peter Hilton Jr. (drums) could not be more engaging. Hilton especially deserves credit for the murderous swing of the sound. Pure joy - get on board.

25.  Elsa Hewitt - Quilt Jams Hewitt released three albums of her warm, fuzzy electronic compositions last year so I would not have looked askance if she had taken the year off. Apparently, that's just not in her nature. Not only has she just released this collection of minimalist sketches for guitar and electronics but there's another, livelier album promised for the fall. Quilt Jams does just what it says on the tin, enveloping the listener in a comforting wash of sounds. If you have a tape deck, you can buy it on cassette, which adds to the density of the sound. It also comes with a handmade sleeve - but act fast, there are only three left!

Listen to a sample of most of these albums with this handy playlist:


Keep up with everything I'm tracking with these Of Note In 2018 playlists:
Of Note In 2018 - Includes all the tracks in the genre-specific lists
Of Note In 2018 (Classical)
Of Note In 2018 (Electronic)
Of Note In 2018 (Hip Hop, R&B & Reggae)
Of Note In 2018 (Rock, Folk, Etc.)
Of Note In 2018 (Reissues)

Top 10 Unlikely Covers

I'm a big fan of artists stepping out of their comfort zone - or maybe it's really our comfort zone - and covering a song that would seem to be out of their bailiwick. Exploiting what could be called the "sincerity gap," wherein a song that seems kind of like a joke is given a new level of emotion, is often a key to success. For exhibit A see number one on my list of Top Ten Unlikely Covers. What are your favorites?

Aztec Camera - Jump Maybe I suck because this is my favorite Aztec Camera recording and I know they are a bit of a sacred cow. I'm a big Van Halen fan (DLR years only!) so I was delighted to hear a completely different approach to the splashy, synth-driven MTV monster that was Jump. The best thing about this was the absolute lack of irony. Something tells me Roddy Frame likes VH as much as I do. Still waiting on that Hot For Teacher cover.

Natalie Prass - Caught Up In The Rapture

As I noted in my review of her show at Bowery Ballroom last year, the Spacebomb chanteuse is a sucker for slinky R&B. On this version of the Anita Baker smash from 1986, she put her mouth where her moneymaker is. Wait, that didn't come out right...just listen.

Sly & The Family Stone - Que Sera Sera
After There's A Riot Going On Sly's rep started going downhill, with blown concerts and "unreliable" behavior alienating fans, critics, and collaborators. He didn't necessarily help his cause by covering a song made famous by Doris Day, sung here by sister Rose Stone. But when he wails on the chorus, it sounds like he means every word. 

The Wailers - Sugar Sugar
While the Monkees were a fake rock group that became real, The Archies, being cartoons, never had that opportunity. They weren't bad, they were just drawn that way. But the songs were real enough and Sugar Sugar was as good as any other bubblegum song. After all, Jeff Barry wrote most of the songs for the real groups, too. But when The Wailers put it to a hip-swiveling rocksteady groove it took on a different connotation. A couple of years later Bob was singing about Marcus who had candy tar all over his chocolate bar in Kinky Reggae - wonder where he got that idea?

Radiohead - Nobody Does It Better
This is firmly in the Aztec Camera camp. You can just tell that Thom Yorke thinks this classic James Bond theme by Carly Simon is a fabulous song. He really gives it his all and it helps that it fits his voice like a glove. I wonder if there's a studio recording of this somewhere in the Radiohead archives.

Emmylou Harris - May This Be Love
We probably have Daniel Lanois to thank for getting Emmylou to explore this deep cut from Are You Experienced? No matter whose idea it was, it is just gorgeous and invites a whole new understanding of Hendrix's songcraft. 

The Isley Brothers - Love The One You're With
By 1970, The Isley Brothers had earned the right to do pretty much whatever they wanted, having had their first hit in 1959. Still, one would not have pegged them to be Stephen Stills fans. One thing that's cool about their version is that they play it fairly straight, adding just a little grit to the original, which was already little funky, and reveling in the harmonies.

Hole - Credit In The Straight World
There is something so self-contained, even precious, about the one album released by Young Marble Giants, that until I heard this it was unimaginable that someone would cover one of their songs. It was a canny choice for Hole, however, as it fit their sound nicely while also providing some more melodic colors to Live Through This. It was also a nice bit of curation and likely introduced many people to the genius of YMG.

Yo La Tengo - Friday I'm In Love
While my favorite Yo La Tengo usually involves Ira Kaplan wailing on his guitar, they do have a nice sideline in covers, exemplified by their lovely folk-rock take on this 90's classic. The original version by The Cure seemed a little unlikely as well, pushing Robert Smith and co. toward the environs of shimmering pop.

The Staples Singers - Slippery People

While the lyrical content of the Talking Heads song might seem a little more oblique than the average gospel song, there was no doubt about the origin of those call and response vocals. The Staples Singers were already legends when they put this out but their cover version reawakened interest in their career for a whole new audience. In any case, Mavis Staples must have really connected with the song as she still performs it regularly.

Bonus Cut:

Freddie Hubbard - Cold Turkey
Here's one from another side of the aisle. Jazz musicians covering pop songs goes back to at least the 30's and we even had folks like Ramsay Lewis giving the treatment to Beatles songs in the late 60's. But hearing hard-charging Miles Davis protege Hubbard take on John Lennon's heroin-withdrawal nightmare of a song has a bit more of a frisson than the usual pop-jazz stylings you would expect. Unlike some other songs in this vein, I doubt this was a bid for pop success!

Unfortunately, even in today's streaming-centric world, there is no one place that I could find that had complete versions of all these songs. This YouTube playlist is the best I could do...What are your favorites?

Best Of 15: The Top 20

When I waded in with my mid-year report back in July, my musical cup runneth over enough that I picked 20 albums to celebrate. Then, it became a bit of a horse race to see what would stay on the list, in what position, and what would drop off. In the final analysis, these adjustments are not really about quality but reflect what albums became the soundtrack of my life and defined 2015 for me. 

Remarkably, the six top spots remained exactly the same, and six others stayed on the list, which made it tough for later releases to shoehorn their way in. But horn in they did, helping to create what I now present to you as The Top 20 of 2015.

1. Holly Miranda - Holly Miranda Watching Holly perform many of these songs solo at The Studio in Freehold, NJ only served to solidify my judgment that this is the album she was born to make.

2. Gecko Turner - That Place By The Thing With The Cool Name Sometimes it seems as if the world has gone mad. I prescribe more Gecko. Pursue your happiness here.

3. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear  The world of music could use more people like Josh Tillman, who brings a dyspeptic flair to everything he does. This album is a masterpiece and behind the jokes is something as serious as his - and your - life.  He's also a pop culture critic of rare perspicacity, as proved by his pointed jab at Ryan Adams covering Taylor Swift.

4. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly  What, I'm going to speak for Kendrick Lamar? Here's the man himself, quoted by BET.com at his Terminal 5 concert earlier this year: “People have said a lot about this album. They done said ‘album of the year,’ ‘album of this generation’ and all that s**t. That’s cool. But on some real s**t, making this motherf**kers album was therapy. Not only for you, but for me… [It’s] some s**t that y’all can feel whether you insecure, vulnerable, mad, happy, angry, sad. You pop this motherf**ker's tape in, and you love and you live this s**t.” I love it and live it and I think we're going to be alright. But, Kendrick...tape?

5. Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass Natalie Prass is full of surprises and Matthew E. White's sympathetic and masterful production couldn't be more perfect.

6. The Amazing - Picture You Though the elements are familiar, there's a sense of discovery that makes it all seem fresh. European rock music at its finest.

7. Killing Joke - Pylon The original lineup of this legendary band is at full throttle - 35 years after their classic debut. 

8. Phil Cook - Southland Mission Since his band Megafaun broke up, there have been a lot of folks depending on Phil Cook to make them sound great in the studio and on the road. They might find him a little harder to book now that he's made this gem of an album.

9. Wilco - Star Wars It was fun to watch the ripples from the surprise release - for free, at first - of Wilco's ninth studio album. But what lasts are the songs and the sense of six brilliant individuals playing as one.

10. Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell - Sing Into My Mouth In which Sam Beam and Band of Horses frontman Bridwell set their iPods on shuffle and sing the heck out of whatever they love. Beautifully arranged, too. And if Beam wants to do a whole album of Sade covers, sign me up.

11. Guilty Simpson - Detroit's Son Even if I hadn't had the opportunity to go deep with Guilty in a wide-ranging interview, I would've noticed him coming into his own on his best full-length yet. The spectacular beats are by Katalyst from Quakers.

12. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit It's a good thing Barnett is so approachable - otherwise her dazzling lyrics and protean talent would be overwhelming. She pushes her voice and guitar into some new places on her debut full-length and there's still the sense that she will go further in the future.

13. Missy Mazzoli with Victoire and Glenn Kotche - Vespers For A New Dark Age At first the rapturous beauty is almost distracting. But then you realize Mazzoli is using it to hold off despair. Such is the power of art.

14. Jamie XX - In Color Unlike many who work mainly with electronic sounds in a pop context, Jamie is as deft with silence as he is with sound, giving his up-to-the minute collages a timeless elegance. For more good times, check out the remix EP of the album's doo wop to hip hop summer smash.

15. Boogarins - Manual Their debut album went platinum in their home country of Brazil, helped no doubt by their relentless live attack. The U.S. might catch up a little with their second album, which has added a soaring inevitability to their gorgeous psych-rock explorations. Don't let the name put you off - it's a type of jasmine flower that is said to smell like "pure love." This album is sweet indeed.

16. In the Light of Air: ICE Performs Anna Thorvaldsdottir Not yet 40, Thorvaldsdottir continues to astonish with her grasp of orchestration and structure. This album, spectacularly performed and recorded by the International Contemporary Ensemble, features the four-movement title piece, which brings to mind Eno crossed with Sibelius, and Transitions, for cello and electronics. While there is a darkness to her work, it's never hopeless. I learned from Meet The Composer that Iceland, where Thorvaldsdottir is from, is of comparatively recent volcanic origin. Maybe that's why artists like her and Björk are so unbeholden to the past. Can't get enough of Anna? Check out Clockworking by Nordic Affect, another excellent album which includes her Shades of Silence among other Scandinavian works.

17. Leonard Cohen - Can't Forget: A Souvenir Of The Grand Tour Now 80, the Canadian poet can be forgiven for indulging in a little nostalgia - except every song on this patchwork collection of live performances sounds fresh from his pen. There are also two previously unreleased songs, including the wry blues of Never Gave Nobody Trouble, and two covers, one of which finds him fearlessly taking on George Jones. Quietly miraculous. 

18. Matthew E. White - Fresh Blood For his second album, White dialed up his sound with more players and an even more assured set of songs. He's always going to have a modest voice but he plays well to his strengths. There was nothing modest, however, about his performance atBRIC Arts Center in March, where he led a 20-piece orchestra. He was unafraid to take command of the stage - and the audience - delivering an impassioned and warmly inclusive set that showed him at his best. More, please. 

19. BADBADNOTGOOD with Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul In the last week or so Wu Tang Clan has been in the news quite a bit, in relation to the multi-million dollar sale of a very limited edition album to "pharma-bro" Martin Shkreli. My only hope is that some of this tabloid coverage will shine a little light onto Sour Soul. The Wu's Ghostface Killah chews the scenery with vigor on this collaboration with Toronto-based ensemble BADBADNOTGOOD, which provides enough crime-jazz swagger to burn. Kendrick Lamar got a lot of credit for incorporating elements of jazz into the tapestry of To Pimp A Butterfly, but nothing on that album swings like Sour Soul.

20. Tom Holkenborg aka Junkie XL - Mad Max Fury Road OST No Grammy nod for this all-but overwhelming heavy metal symphony? For shame. Hopefully, the Oscar voters will get the memo.

Here's the playlist - if you hear something you like, make sure to click through to the album. There's not a bad song in the bunch.


What's topping your list? Let me know where we overlap - and where we don't. Soon to come: overviews of The Best of The Rest Of 15, Classical & Composed, Reggae & Hip Hop, and Singles & EP's. Subscribe above to make sure you don't miss anything!

The Surprising Natalie Prass

Natalie Prass is full of surprises. For example, did you know that she's all about that bass? She happily owned up to the body-moving mix that played her on stage at a sold out Bowery Ballroom this past Monday. It included such club classics as the 12" version of The Men All Pause by Klymaxx and Slowes' Comb by Digable Planets - songs you might not have heard in Nashville, where she spent almost a decade before moving back to Richmond, VA, to make her instant-classic debut album. 

Then there were the bananas. She placed four of them on her amp before greeting the crowd. Since this show was rescheduled from May due to illness, my first thought was potassium deficiency. But no, she's just a lovable eccentric who wanted to share her band's "night nanners" tradition with the audience. Which she did, tossing the fruits into the eagerly outstretched hands of her fans. And yes - by then she had everyone eating out of her hands, whether or not you caught a banana.

While the album, lushly produced by Matthew E. White and Trey Pollard, clearly displays a gifted singer, her talent was even more apparent in concert. Although her natural instrument is a little bit flighty, her control over every sound and - even more importantly - every rhythmic inflection is simply remarkable. She played with phrasing like a jazz chanteuse, finding new hooks in songs I've played to death, all the while producing the beautiful tones exactly as you hear on the record. 

Natalie & Trey

Trey Pollard is also the guitarist in her road band, pulling out shades of Les Paul or Steve Cropper as the situation demanded. He was a great foil for Prass who - surprise, surprise - is also a great performer. She moves to enact each song, either locking into the beat or finding a little bit of theater to emphasize a point, without ever seeming studied. She smiles a lot, talks to the audience and seems to like to improvise a bit. Don't be surprised if there's a charming song called New York City on her next album, she so loved singing the name of our fair metropolis. 

Her sophomore release seems in good hands either way, as she played three or four new songs that all sounded good. But it was in the indelible songs she's already recorded that she and the band really shone. Bird Of Prey, My Baby Don't Understand Me, Christy, etc. -these are all bulletproof songs, testaments to the power of her medium to put a structure to emotion and narrative and then pull us through that creation with irresistible threads of melody, harmony and groove.

My brief time in Nashville last year proved that beyond the rhinestones there is a serious and supportive community of songwriters there, from which Prass clearly benefited. But she's on another plane entirely now and well on her way to a brilliant career. She'll be at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 10th and I highly recommend you get your tickets in advance. 

The opening act was Wilder Maker, a quintet from Brooklyn who had a few surprises of their own, such as a two drummer set up that added loads of texture and excitement. While not every song was my cup of tea, they felt fully formed and bandleader Gabriel Birnbaum is extremely comfortable as a frontman. He's also put in a good portion of his 10,000 hours with his guitar, finger-picking or playing bold chords with ease. His baritone blended nicely with the more dulcet tones of Katie Von Schleicher, who also played keyboard. Based on the way they won over the crowd, which grew steadily throughout their set, I doubt Wilder Mind will be just an opening band for long. 

You might also like:
Matthew E. White: Seeking Transcendence
No Longer A Big Inner
Catching Up With 2015

The Best of 2015 (So Far)

Isn't it wonderful when an album becomes like a public square and a huge variety of people come together to debate and celebrate its merits? Kendrick Lamar's extraordinary To Pimp A Butterfly definitely falls into this category and as such is probably the most important record of the year so far. 

But it is part of the critic's duty to balance the personal and the public and to speak from their heart, which is why To Pimp A Butterfly is not my number one album at this point.

That honor goes to Holly Miranda's self-titled second (or third, depending on how you count) album. While PhD theses may not be written unpacking dense political themes, hearing her completely blossom as an artist is a thrill in its own right. Also, watching a lesbian couple sing along to All I Want Is To Be Your Girl at Holly's recent concert does lend some weight to her place in the culture at this time in history. 

With that said, and with further ado shown the door, here's my Top 20 of the year so far. 

1. Holly Miranda - Holly Miranda We've known for some time that Holly Miranda is a genius interpreter. Now she finally has written a batch of songs consistently worthy of her gifts as a singer. 

2. Gecko Turner - That Place By The Thing With The Cool Name If I were king of the world there would be no more war because we would all be too busy dancing to Gecko. 

3. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear With a novelist's eye for detail, a golden voice, and Jonathan Wilson as his producing partner in crime, FJM strikes again. Turning his withering gaze on himself as much as the American landscape, no one can make you laugh until you cry (and vice versa) like the former J. Tillman. And if there's a better performer hitting the stage in 2015, I'd like to know about it. 

4. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly Much has already been written about the complexities of Kendrick's masterpiece but let's not lose sight of its simpler charms, such as the fact that it is the most groovalicious hip hop album in quite some time. Give some credit to George Clinton and the Brainfeeder crew of Flying Lotus, Thundercat and Kamasi Washington. But the star of the show is always Kendrick, a true virtuoso rapper who has made more than the most of his voice, which is not a naturally beautiful instrument. Believe it or not, I think he will only get better as he matures away from his focus on using dysfunctional relationships between men and women as a central metaphor for power and control. 

5. Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass As a fan of Matthew E. White's cosmic Americana for the last few years, I was pre-disposed to like Natalie Prass's debut, which was produced by him and features the brilliant cast of characters from his own albums. However, I did have to fight through a slight overreaction to her chirpy vocal quirks to get to the core of her greatness. It was worth the journey, though, to connect with her rock-solid songwriting, which finds common ground between Stax and the great American songbook. There's also a toughness under the vocal delicacy that keeps it from effervescent into the ether.  

6. The Amazing - Picture You Elegance and reserve are not often on the list of psych-shoegaze virtues but this Swedish quintet emphatically make the case for them on their third album. The long songs gradually reveal more of the band's depth and versatility with each listen. Guitars are the main focus, but the production eases in organ, horns, strings and woodwinds in a most beguiling way.

7. SWR Vokalensemble - Italia Marcus Creed leads the talented singers of the SWR in an intelligently programmed selection of Italian choral music with captivating results. 

8. Jamie XX - In Colour I don't care for the XX but I loved We're New Here, Jamie's full-album remix of Gil Scott-Heron's final work so I thought I'd give this a try. Gosh am I glad I did! Aggressively hip, kaleidoscopic and alternating between melancholy and joy - sometimes in the same song - this is easily the electronic record of the year. Guest appearances by XX colleagues are brief and work well in this context but I think Jamie has more fun without them. Good times. 

9. Patrick Watson - Love Songs For Robots Watson has always been an expert at creating moods but on his latest he sustains one across the whole album. I think of the album as one long piece, a sleek and cinematic epic, so lush and gorgeous that your neck hairs will be permanently tingling. Glorious stuff. 

10. Matthew E. White - Fresh Blood White is no stranger to lush textures himself and follows up 2012's Big Inner with another deeply felt set of songs. He's got some of Curtis Mayfield's touch for the dramatic, both in the way he deploys horns, strings, and backup singers, but also in the way he cares so much about people and their connections. He's one of the good guys. 

11. BADBADNOTGOOD with Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul In which the Toronto-based post-jazz trio hook up with Wu-Tang mainstay Ghostface and create a collection of noir-inflected tracks that don't compromise the agendas of either party. Ghostface sounds invigorated, spitting gritty tales over horns and strings  and BBNG go all in on embracing their dark side. The best hip hop album no one is taking about. So I'm talking about it. 

12. Missy Mazzoli with Victoire and Glenn Kotche - Vespers For A New Dark Age Night is falling in Missy's world, too, so grab on and soar the heavens on the wings of soprano angels. 

13. Ryley Walker - Primrose Green Dazzling acoustic player Walker plies his trade in some of the sun-dappled territory marked out by Tim Buckley on such albums as Happy/Sad and Blue Afternoon - a realm not visited enough in my opinion. 

14. Leonard Cohen - Can't Forget: A Souvenir Of The Grand Tour I'm not 100% sure why, but I have found Leonard Cohen's latest albums to be no more than intermittently satisfying. For every great song like Nevermind (now the perfectly doomy theme for season two of True Detective), there are a few that seem too self-regarding. It's as if he got so caught up in being LEONARD COHEN that he couldn't just be himself. This album, an unusual hybrid of live takes of old songs, new songs recorded at soundchecks, and covers, has completely cracked the code. He's in terrific voice and his band is with him every step of the way as he transforms such classics as Field Commander Cohen and Joan Of Arc while introducing witty new gems like Never Gave Nobody Trouble. Somehow it all works together for his best collection since Ten New Songs. 

15. Tom Holkenborg aka Junkie XL - Mad Max Fury Road OST George Miller's surprising return to brilliantly brutal cinematic form was ably assisted by Holkenborg's smashing score. Like a cyborg Wagner, Holkenborg welds electronics and symphonics into unstoppable heat-seeking missiles of sound. You might want to be careful about driving under its influence. 

16. Noveller - Fantastic Planet Sarah Lipstate wields her guitar and a raft of electronics to explore the tributaries left by the innovations of Fripp and Eno in the 1970's and Glenn Branca in the 1980's. Beautifully atmospheric. 

17. Pond - Man It Feels Like Space Again Mojo Magazine docked these guys a star for being too weird. If I need say more, I'll just refer to the 3-D production, sly melodies and their supremely rhythmic take on neo-psych.

18. Bob Dylan - Shadows In The Night This may be Dylan's most atmospheric album ever, wandering the dark corners of Tin Pan Alley in a hand-picked selection of songs associated mainly with Frank Sinatra. Dylan's engagement with the clever lyrics of another era have smoothed out his voice and brought out a delightful wryness in his delivery. The production is a minimal, charcoal sketch surrounding Dylan, who stands firmly in the spotlight. Old dog, new tricks - yet again. 

19. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit The Aussie treasure returns with her first official full-length and slays with her carefully observed story-songs. She also plays a mean guitar and drives the band harder when it's called for. She's great live, too - catch her if you can. 

20. Ibeyi - Ibeyi These Parisian twins are descended from Cuban musical royalty. Based on this stunning debut, their deeper roots in Nigeria are also not too distant. Yoruba rhythms and themes collide with contemporary hip hop-based production and Ira Gershwin-influenced lyrics, all delivered as if it were no big deal by their heavenly voices. 

The new Apple Music has 19 of the 20 albums here - give a listen to a playlist of songs. 

Spotify has 18 of the 20 - listen below.

What's topping your list?