Record Roundup: Guitars, Guitars, Etc.

A few years ago I was very nearly convinced that there was a generational divide about guitars. The six-stringed wonder seemed to be less and less relevant to people who came of musical age in the 80's and 90's, which made me slightly sad, I'll admit. Don't get me wrong - I love synthesizers, sampling, turntablism and all kinds of studio trickery, and I'm certainly not advocating a return to guitar hero wankery. I just feel that there is a unique disturbance to the air caused by strings vibrating in some kind of interval-based tuning, whether over a magnetic coil pickup or a soundhole, or both. Acoustic, electric, six or 12 string, solo and in combination, I just really, really like guitars.

Now I see I needn't have worried. This year there's been an explosion of good to great guitar albums and bands, some of which (Cian Nugent, Car Seat Headrest, Wire) were among my best of the year so far. What follows here is a quick tear, in no particular order, through some of the other guitar-driven jams that have been getting me out of the fug of 2016 on a regular basis. Politics, schmolitics, let's tune up and plug in. Rocking out is optional.

Exmagician - Scan The Blue This is the sound of a couple of music lifers finding their sweet spot. A little too clean to be shoegaze, but with some of that propulsion, and not bombastic enough to be Britpop but with some of that melodic grandeur. Job Done should be a hit and there's not a bad song to be found. 

Journalism - Faces I may be the only one I know for whom this was a long-awaited debut. I enthused a few years ago when Denim Jesus showed up on SoundCloud, immediately impressed with its power, polish and wit. While they played a concert now and then, I wasn't really sure if they were a going concern. Who knows what the deal was - in any case the full length is here, nine driving rock songs with a psychedelic edge. This is what rock radio should be playing. 

Pale Dian - Narrow Birth I stumbled on these guys when they opened for Cheatahs last time I was in Austin. Like the headliners, they were monumentally loud, but I was able to discern a sweet interplay between the guitar and synth, along with a gift for well-turned melodies. When the album came out, I was a tiny bit disappointed that it sounded so familiar: a little bit of MBV and JAMC, a touch of Siousxie, some Blondie. So they're noise-pop classicists in the end, but they do it very well. Great production, too. 

The Stargazer Lilies - Door To The Sun The Lilies were touring with Pale Dian so I cued them up, even though I couldn't make it to the show - yet another way I discover new music. It's easy to see why they were put together, as they strike a lot of the same chords as Pale Dian, with perhaps a touch more originality. When is the split "Pale Lilies" single coming out? Or do people not do those anymore?

Nap Eyes - Thought Rock Fish Scale I fell down a defunct blog's rabbit hole one day, reading years of passionate (if slightly amateur) collective criticism about bands that were mostly unsatisfying when I actually heard them. Eventually I hit on Nap Eyes, liked it, found out they had a new album out and liked it even more. There's a new naturalism to their songwriting, that falling-off-a-log ease that is usually hard-won. However they got to this point, it's a delightfully heartfelt album of smart indie rock. You could be their next devoted fan.

Frankie Cosmos - Next Thing So she has famous parents - that doesn't mean her tunefully awkward pop is a put-on or any less charming. While I don't bond as closely with her songs as I do to, say, Hospitality's, she hits some of those targets. She'll probably only get better, too, unless she decides to enter the family business and become an actor.

Tacocat - Lost Time Frankie Cosmos definitely owes a debt to these guys, who have been plying their punky trade for nearly a decade. Lost Time is probably their most "accomplished" album - but don't worry, they haven't killed the fun. It just means that the songs don't meander so much and the sound is better, so you can enjoy the Riot Grrrl rush of songs like I Hate The Weekend all the more easily.

Feral Conservatives - Here's To Almost Okay, so it's not a guitar that Rashie Rosenfarb is strumming but her electric mandolin provides the same pleasures. Great songs, too, and you can read lots more words about this album by me and others on Off Your Radar. Subscribe while you're there, won't you?

Self Defense Family - Colicky Speaking of Off Your Radar, I have my colleague Drew Necci to thank for introducing me to this dark-hued post-punk-referencing group, who have been releasing music under this name since 2011. For It Isn't Very Clear, Is It? alone, Colicky is my favorite of the three EP's and two singles they've put out so far this year, but if you put all the songs in a playlist you'll have a damned good album.

Scott & Charlene's Wedding - Mid Thirties Singles Scene While I'm not connecting as strongly to this album as I did to their last, Craig Dermody still has a way with slightly off-kilter jangle and clever lyrics and everyone should know about this band.

Parquet Courts - Human Performance Even those these Brooklyn sort-of slackers sell out every show in minutes, I somehow think they're underappreciated, taken for granted - even by me. This is easily their best and most varied album since they broke through with Light Up Gold. There's a little more humor and self-deprecation here, as well as clever instrumentation. Dust, Berlin Got Blurry, One Man No City and the title track are all seriously sticky songs that betray new strengths, and Steady On My Mind has some truly velvety guitar interplay. Don't count them out.

Omni - Deluxe While Omni, like some of the other bands here, might be a little too comfortable in their post-punk niche (hell, they even have a song called Wire), this debut is still a terrific listen. Tight, colorful songs, assured playing and sharp production, all by ex-Deerhunter and ex-Carnivores members, seal the deal. If you want to read someone gush over this album, check out my old friend Tim Sommer's review - if that doesn't make you want to listen...

Big Thief - Masterpiece Calling your debut album Masterpiece and then starting it with two minutes of lo-fi wayward warbling is a fun way to play with expectations. But singer/songwriter Adrienne Lenker and co. sound like they're in it for the long haul. Her songs are sturdy and inevitable, and the band serves them well with a canny combo of straight-ahead folk-rock and mathy touches. Perhaps most importantly, Big Thief sound like they're seizing the moment with everything they've got - grab on.

The Amazing - Ambulance I guess if a band called The Amazing named their album "masterpiece" it would be overkill. But this Swedish band's last album, Picture This, was exactly that - a masterpiece - and made it to number six on my Top 20 for 2015. While Ambulance is not quite at that level and could use some of the urgency implied by the title, it's still a beautifully absorbing set of psych-rock. A sly, funky, positively noirish song called Blair Drager stands out like a captivating sore thumb, however - and may hint at new directions for these guys. Special note should be paid to drummer Moussa Fadera whose light touch and detailed playing elevate everything this band does.

Ryley Walker - Golden Sings That Have Been Sung Walker could easily have had a great, low-key career as an acoustic fingerpicking wizard, such are his skills. But his ambitions are greater than that and on his third album he's getting closer to realizing them. Richly textured, expansive songs with wide dynamic range provide an ornate frame for his tenor, with which he is sounding more comfortable on every album. Van Morrison is an obvious touchstone here and if Walker doesn't quite have the lyrical facility of The Man at his best, at least he's pushing hard at his own limitations. Probably my favorite song is Age Old Tale - just pure hypnosis. If you listen on Spotify, don't skip the mind-blowing 40 minute(!) live take on Sullen Mind. Maybe he'll play it like that at the Market Hotel on November 3rd - or a venue near you.

Lucinda Williams - The Ghosts of Highway 20 I recognize that it seems almost cruelly reductive to include a master like Lucinda Williams in a roundup of this sort. But the fact is that this double-album set is full of gorgeous guitars, duet after duet by Bill Frisell and Greg Leisz, both masters in their own right. Also, I will admit that the almost entirely low-key mood of this album has me reaching for it less frequently than I did Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone, which had more of that driving groove that she addicted us to on Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. Still, many of these songs - Dust, Doors Of Heaven, the title track, If There's A Heaven - are marvels to behold. And who knows - if she tours with Stuart Mathis again, there might be even more six-string fireworks.

Dinosaur Jr. - Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not It should not be that Dinosaur Jr. made one of their best albums over 30 years after their start in 1984. But that is what we have here, people. Give A Glimpse is a celebration of both the melodic smarts of J. Macsis as well as his guitar-titan status. Gritty chords give way to liquid or wonderfully overdriven solos with a casual regularity that is dumbfounding. That sense of mastery combined with surprise is a rare thing indeed. Lou Barlow (bass) and Murph (drums) can do no wrong, providing just the right support and holding the goalposts for one game-winning kick after another. Barlow also wrote and sings on two songs and his lighter style adds some nice variety, also provided by Macsis's prettier moments. Even though they've only made 11 albums in all those years (and took a long hiatus from 1997-2005), let's face it: J. Macsis and Dinosaur Jr. are probably at least part of the reason we're still talking about guitars at all in 2016. Long may they reign.

OK, I think that's enough for now! What guitar-driven stuff has been driving you wild this year? Also, I slightly lied at the start. There is an order to this list, which is based on the way I sequenced the accompanying playlist. It was a fun challenge to blend everything together in a way that made sense. Let me know what you think.


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Everybody, Get In Line: RSD 2015

I left for Brooklyn with two boxes on my belt, one with 7,134 songs on it and other with 3,810. Given an Internet or cellular connection, the second one gives me access to millions of songs on Spotify, YouTube, BandCamp, SoundCloud among other services and apps. That's not to mention a few thousand CD's and several hundred pieces of precious wax that I can dial up anytime I'm at home. So why in God's name was I going to sit on the subway for an hour to head out to Permanent Records on Record Store Day?

In my other Record Store Day posts (see below) I've talked a bit about the unique engagement with music provided by a visit to a music emporium. Going out on RSD is an opportunity to see more people while doing so, and take the pulse of this sacred activity. This year, I also had the slightly practical consideration of 18" linear inches of CD's I wanted to unload. They're good people at Permanent, and even though they wouldn't give me a lot for the pile, which was mostly Mojo Magazine compilation discs, I knew they would be fair about it.

I got a little more than I bargained for on the "see more people" part of the equation. When I arrived at Permanent Records about 30 minutes after opening, there was a crowd waiting in the blazing sunshine just to get upstairs. I don't usually pack sunscreen in my blog bag so I got slightly roasted. I did have a chance to chat with some of my fellow travelers, including a woman who mentioned that she was reading Viv Albertine's memoir. That's a book I've been meaning to get to and based on her description I need to read it soon. I told her and her boyfriend about the time The Slits played Irving Plaza and it was unexpectedly one of the best reggae shows I've ever seen. They went from faking it to make it to being the real deal in pretty short order.

The line moved slowly but we finally made it to the tiny elevator, which was part of the cause of the delay. The stairs are not available from the lobby so we shuttled up in groups of six, getting upstairs to find...another line. Permanent Records used to have a storefront in Greenpoint but high rents drove them to find their current space, a charming room in the back of Brooklyn Works, which provides desk and office space for rent by the hour to the creative and entrepreneurial classes.

Talk started to turn toward what RSD exclusives people were hoping to find. Even though I am one of the 12 people Lars Ulrich referred to as being able to play the limited cassette version of Metallica's demo tape, I didn't pay much attention to the releases this year, preferring the thrill of serendipity. The guy ahead of me was hoping to score something by the Foo Fighters, and another was looking for Springsteen reissues. Needless to say, I couldn't relate, but was glad to see at least one of them find their joy.

Once in the store, I did take a perfunctory look at the box of special releases, conveniently placed near the front. I considered Brian Eno's My Squelchy Life, on vinyl for the first time, but from what I recall this material was unreleased for a reason. The tracks that trickled out on compilations were not among his best work - and there's the fact that it was issued digitally last year as part of a big campaign by Eno's All Saints record company. Not worth my $30. The rest of the box had plenty of Springsteen, and Willie Nelson's Teatro, which never quite lived up to the expectations provided by having Daniel Lanois at his peak in the production chair, and a couple of other things of minor interest.

I quickly turned my attention elsewhere and almost as quickly spotted a copy of Parquet Courts Live At Third Man Records, a vinyl-only release taped at Jack White's spot down in Nashville. The "7.5 on Pitchfork" sticker helped catch my attention, I admit. That's good indie store practice. Parquet Courts are a great live band so even the prospect of lining Jack's pockets couldn't keep me away. Hopefully the band is getting the bigger cut.

I also grabbed Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly. True, I can listen on Spotify, and maybe it was two bucks cheaper on Amazon, but since it's a important record that's worth owning why not support Permanent in the process?

That's when the serious flipping through new and used stuff began. There was a CD of Colossal Youth by Young Marble Giants for $4, which I pulled out and tried to hard sell to the Viv Albertine reader. "If you like The Slits, you'll probably like this. It's one of the greatest albums of all time!" She had never heard of YMG and was intrigued - but there was a catch: "I don't have a CD player." Nope - not even in her laptop, since she just bought a MacBook Air. Ladies and gentlemen, the post-CD era is real.

Not for me, however. I was happy to find a copy of the Legacy Edition of Marvin Gaye's Midnight Love, an album I've been meaning to get to know better. The double-disc versions of What's Going On, Let's Get It On, and I Want You are some of the finest reissues of their kind, with great bonus tracks and informative liner notes, so my hopes are high.

I recently read in Mojo that soul great Johnnie Taylor was the first artist ever to be awarded a Platinum single, for Disco Lady in 1976. Apparently Taylor himself was none too impressed with the song, which features a rhythm track by P-Funk legends Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell (billed as George), and Glen Goine. "My voice is too low, the record doesn't suit me and I think we need to go with something else," he told his producer. Soon Disco Lady was Number 1 for four weeks and Taylor was literally bathing in Champagne. While I didn't bust out the bubbly, I was delighted to find copies of both Eargasm, the album containing Disco Lady, and one of its follow-ups, the soundtrack to Disco 9000, on vintage vinyl. If you know me, you also know that I'm excited to report that the other bassists on Eargasm are Michael Henderson of Motown and Miles Davis fame, and Muscle Shoals's own David Hood. Four string nirvana.

Finally, I delved into the ultimate hit-or-miss bins, with the dollar and two-for-one records. I actually scored, discovering a 12" single of Bryan Ferry's Is Your Love Strong Enough. Some of his best 80's work was for movies or only on singles so I'm always on the lookout for ones I don't have. I also selected a 12" of Wait For It Megacity Mix by Brilliant, which may be the last thing the Killing Joke spin-off released before becoming a New Romantic pop nightmare.

The best news is that I have plenty room for these vinyl additions, having sold a stack of wax to Permanent a few months ago. It all came full circle when I saw a heavily tattooed shopper buy the copy of Sham 69's Hersham Boys that was in that stack. Looks like it found a good home.

As I paid, I chatted with the proprietor and cashier of Permanent and it seems like things are going well in the still newish space. While its small size made the RSD crowds a logistical challenge, they seemed to take it in stride and were ringing up some high value sales. I wondered what had been the most obvious object of desire among the exclusive releases. "Brand New," they both said practically at once. Huh? Turned out they were referring to Deja Entendu, the second album by Long Island Emo-punk band Brand New. Originally released in 2003, it is apparently very hard to find on vinyl, and they have rabid fans, like the guy who showed up at Permanent at 4:30 AM to get his copy.

I like to picture that guy, carefully removing the holy grail from the glossy sleeve, and placing it on his turntable. As the power cords and slightly whiny vocals fill the room, he begins to dream of what he will find next April. See you then, brother.

Other Record Store Day Posts:
RSD 2014
A Bronx Cheer For RSD

Best Of The Rest Of 14: Old Favorites, New Sounds

At the beginning of every year I start a Spotify playlist called Of Note In [insert year] which is my place to dump interesting sounding tracks, whether its  things I read about, songs people recommend, or new releases from artist I follow. If it's not on Spotify I have to work a little harder to keep track but I have other ways. If you use Spotify and want to keep up with most of what I'm listening to, you can follow the playlist and then you will get a little notification whenever I add something to the list. That way you can avoid that "Wow, I could've had a V8!" moment when I start posting my best of lists. Get a leg up and start following Of Note In 2015 now.

Having done the heavy lifting of the Top 20, now it's time to draw attention the other things that got me going over the last (nearly) 12 months. First up: new records from some familiar faces.

Old Favorites, New Sounds: 

While I loved the last two albums by The Strokes, I thought Casablancas' first solo album was awful. Phrazes For The Young seemed to play to every one of his weaknesses, with out of tune singing, stilted melodies and a cheap sound. Tyranny by Julian Casablancas + The Voidz is a different beast altogether, and it is a beast, with a sound that bolts blistering guitars to boxy electronics and features what seem almost like random noises that drop in and out, in a strange approximation of dub techniques. Casablancas distorts his voice more than ever, which is ironic considering Tyranny is supposed to be a concept album about wealth inequality and an overbearing security state (I think). I can tell that he thinks what he's singing about is really important, and for some reason that's enough for me. Also, there is an almost operatic sweep that comes through, especially on the nearly 11 minute Human Sadness, which makes for exciting listening. The ambition Casablancas brings to Tyranny is almost overwhelming, with through-composed song structures, deep layering in the production, and a slight sense of mania. I didn't know he had this in him, which is a rare thing to say about an artist I'm so familiar with. While it would make me sad if there were never another Strokes album, Tyranny makes me wonder if Casablancas has actually outgrown them. There's no end to where he goes from here.

When Lucinda Williams is in her sweet spot, it's almost always good, and much of her first double album, Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone, is very good, if not quite at the level of her last album, Blessed. But West Memphis is one of her greatest songs ever, with Tony Joe White adding extra swampiness to possibly the grooviest song about injustice since Dylan's Hurricane. 

EMA's The Future's Void had much that fascinated but it was not quite the major statement I had hoped for. Still, nobody does quite what she does so I was glad for a follow-up to the shattering Past Life Martyred Saints, one of the great records of the century. Even quirkier, The Pink Caves, the second album from German-American band Fenster found them hoeing their fragile little row with more great songs and homemade sounds, and indie stalwarts Cibo Matto returned with Hotel Valentine, their most entertaining album since Viva La Woman. 

Almost Like The Blues is now in the pantheon of great Leonard Cohen songs, no matter if the album, Popular Problems, didn't entirely live up to its promise. Now 80, Cohen has certainly been more productive of late than Aphex Twin, who took 13 years off before releasing Syro. Expectations ran high, naturally, and while it was a very good album, with some of his jammiest tracks yet, it wasn't the roadmap to the future that he used to provide. Speaking of elder states-people, do yourself a favor and listen to the first five songs on Marianne Faithfull's Give My Love To London. If the rest of it had kicked that much ass, it might have been in my Top 20.

Brian Eno celebrated his new bromance with Underworld's Karl Hyde by putting out not one but two fine albums, Someday World and High Life. The first found the two finishing some of Eno's old pop songs in the vein of Wrong Way Up, Eno's 1990 collaboration with John Cale, and the second was filled with expansive yet incisive jams that announced Hyde as an afro-beat inspired guitar magus. Parquet Courts also put out two scrappy, fun records but might want to contemplate bringing a little more focus to their thing next time. Of the two, Sunbathing Animal had more staying power with me than Content Nausea.

Coming next: Hip Hop.

2014: Mid-Year Report

When it comes to eating, I believe in a balanced diet. Like the other day, when I was ordering a mango, strawberry and blueberry smoothie. The other person waiting at the cart said, "What, no banana?" I told her that I had already had a banana that morning and that the mango would give the smoothie plenty of body. I failed to mention that the banana had been atop a waffle, drenched in maple syrup and sprinkled with toasted pecans - all part of a balanced diet.

When it comes to music however, all bets are off. If I want to gorge myself on James Brown or Wagner, or if all I want to listen to is hip hop or instrumental music, there's no earthly reason to reconsider. I follow my muse and feed my soul without any external obligation. However, I do occasionally take stock and note what I'm not listening to just to make sure I'm not missing out on anything. Over the years, I have noticed that most of what is in heavy rotation is dominated by males. Besides my beloved Holly Miranda, brilliant Björk, delightful Hollie Cook and a few others, female artists I love have been few and far between. It's not for lack of trying as I'll listen to anything once. Neko Case, St. Vincent, Tuneyards, Sharon Van Etten, Tori Amos, and many other critical darlings just do not do it for me - I'll say no more.

No problem there, right? I'm just feeding my soul. Except - I'm also feeding my 15-year-old daughter's iPod and I want to make sure she's exposed to plenty of music in which she can see herself reflected. So, in early this year I asked her, "Would you like to have more female voices on your iPod?" She said yes, so I began to marshal the troops: Björk, Hole, The Raincoats, The Slits, Emmylou Harris, Solex, and other wonderful records from the past. Then something happened: before I had a chance to start loading anything onto her iPod, I noticed that I was listening to more women's voices than ever. Problem solved! The culture had come through - for my daughter and for me, something which you will see reflected in the list below.

The Best of 2014 (So Far)

1. Beck - Morning Phase A few months have not diminished the glory of Beck's achievement - in fact, it's only gotten better.

2. Hamilton Leithauser - Black Hours I'll have much more to say about this extraordinary album soon.

3. Breton - War Room Stories - America may still be sleeping on this London-based band, but they keep moving forward, adding an orchestra to their patented blend of post-punk rhythms and contemporary electronics.

4. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness Her first album, Half Way Home from 2012, showed a beautiful voice married to a promising songwriting talent, but added up to a somewhat one-note affair. There was definitely something going on, but barely a hint of the commanding artist that we hear on her second album. Her decision to open up her sound to a full band and work with producer John Congleton means that her songs now find full flower with intensity and variety. Touching on the elemental power of bedrock artists like Hank Williams and Roy Orbison, her voice emerges fully formed on this instant classic. Each song gets the arrangement it deserves and the respect Congleton has for Olsen comes through loud and clear on White Fire, a stunning song that does not attempt to improve on Olsen's voice and haunting finger-picked acoustic, and Enemy, which sets her voice far in front of some whispery strumming. Hi Five, Angel, high five.

5. David Greilsammer - Scarlatti & Cage Sonatas This addicting collection is an inspired dialogue across the centuries, expertly conceived and brilliantly played by Greilsammer. Piano record of the year.

6. Hollie Cook - Twice You don't have to know that Cook is rock royalty (her father is Paul Cook, drummer for the Sex Pistols) to fall in love with her lighter-than-air voice and blissful take on reggae and lover's rock. Working again with British reggae savant Prince Fatty, they concoct a fantastic follow-up to the 2011's debut album. Adding strings, harps and loads of atmosphere, Cook and Fatty have again made a perfect summer album. Now there is a bit of imperious steel to her voice, too, which keeps the whole enterprise from dissolving like sugar under a waterfall. I can't get enough.

7. Hospitality - Trouble This Brooklyn-based trio ably dodges the sophomore slump by adding a dose of darkness to their sound and further exposing the protean talents of Amber Papini (singing and songwriting) and Nathan Michel (production, percussion, songwriting, etc.).

8. Courtney Barnett - The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas This Aussie singer-guitarist takes a little Nirvana, a dash of Lou Reed, a few shakes of Noise Addict-era Ben Lee, and adds her own wry twist with songs about asthma attacks, failed romance and being young. Everything is a little woozy and behind the beat so you feel dragged along, almost by the sheer force of her personality. Live, she takes things further, increasing the dynamics of the songs and rocking hard. She's clearly become a better musician than when she recorded the songs collected here, but no less fearless, which bodes well for her future.

9. The GOASTT - Midnight Sun The full on psychedelic freak out I always knew Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl had in them. Great songwriting, too, full of wit and imagination. Catch The GOASTT at a free concert in McCarren Park on July 30th.

10. Isaiah Rashad - Cilvia Demo Even with a good album from Mobb Deep and an almost great collaboration between genius producer Madlib and young gun Freddie Gibbs, this has not been a stellar year for hip hop. Rashad, however, is on to something. Signed to Top Dawg Entertainment, the same firm that helped break Kendrick Lamar big, he's put together an extremely strong debut. Equally thoughtful and filthy, Cilvia Demo is laden with gorgeous, lush beats, creating a very involving experience. Even with no less than nine producers, the album holds together very well and Rashad is clearly enjoying the radical dissonance between his nasty lyrics and the beautiful music he's selected. One to watch.

11. Kate Tempest - Everybody Down Another hip hop bright spot comes from a far more unlikely source. Tempest is the youngest poet to win the Ted Hughes Award but has also been honing her flow for the last dozen years. Both talents come to the fore on Everybody Down, a song cycle about the confused collisions of young people trying to make it - and connect with each other - in today's England. Producer Dan Carey crafts forward thinking grooves that move the body as much as Tempest's lyrics touch the emotions. The album somehow reminds me of Vikram Seth's novel-in-verse, Golden Gate, in that it uses a very structured format and some familiar tropes to tell a very individualized, particular story. We'll see how the accompanying novel, due in 2015, handles the material. Tempest's husky voice is surprisingly versatile, modulating and taking on the tones of her characters in a real tour de force show of skill and theatrical talent. And people who read the New York Times are still wondering if hip hop is music.

12. Kojiro Umezaki - (Cycles) Shakuhachi virtuoso Umezaki uses his evocative instrument and polyglot tastes to connect the dots between head and heart, future and past on this absorbing collection.

13. Glenn Kotche - Adventureland Wilco drummer Kotche makes huge leaps as a composer on the seven movements of Anomaly, performed with the Kronos Quartet, and indulges in his taste for the quirky on several "haunted" shorter pieces. The best of a clutch of releases from Wilco members, although, Macroscope by The Nels Cline Singers isn't far behind.

14. EMA - The Future's Void Erika M. Anderson took a couple of years off after the searing (even tortured) revelations of Past Life Martyred Saints but has returned strongly with the carefully crafted, gnomic pronouncements of The Future's Void. She brings the same emotional commitment (and a caustic wit on So Blonde) to songs that are often about our current engagement - OK, obsession - with technology, that she brought to more personal material. It's hard to tell if she's judging the moment harshly or simply pointing it out, especially when the songs have such a lustrous techno sheen. Maybe this was the music Bowie's girlfriend heard on the radio after she crawled into the holographic television in TVC 15. Whatever her point of view ultimately is, this isn't the first time someone's made a great record by having it both ways.

15. Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal Last year's Light Up Gold so quickly took its place in the firmament of NYC rock, that it's almost easy to take the follow-up for granted - another Parquet Courts record, they're always good, aren't they? In reality, they're still a young band and they continue to both refine their sound and draw more into it. This time around there's also no question that they know exactly what they're doing - and that they are very, very good at it.

16. Siinai - Supermarket Now I've never been to Finland, but if the kosmisch music - both creepy and ecstatic - on Siinai's concept album is any indication of what it's like to shop there, I think Fresh Direct may have a new market to explore. I don't take the concept too seriously, however - this may just be the best Krautrock album of the 21st century. Layering synths with a tangible excitement that's contagious, Siinai have created a compulsively listenable series of soundscapes. Go ahead, put it on next time you're in the Stop & Shop - just don't blame me if you forget a few things on your list.

17. Eno-Hyde - Someday World I'll admit to being a complete dilettante when it comes to Underworld, having struggled to find anything in their catalog as satisfying as Born Slippy. When I heard Eno was working with Underworld main man Karl Hyde I wasn't sure it would add up. Turns out this might be my favorite Eno project since his last collaboration with David Byrne, the marvelous Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. Both Eno and Hyde can come off as pretty chilly and cerebral, but they go for a warmly emotional sweet spot on most of the 12 songs here. Standout track Daddy's Car blends nostalgia with Afro-futurism, and The Satellites is suffused with space age optimism. A Man Wakes Up is almost a happier companion to Once In A Lifetime, and if it's chilliness you seek, When I Built This World has it in spades. Slightly proggy sections alternate with robo-Eno singing about how he filled the world he created with regret, guilt, pain and sin. It makes a nice pair with Bowie's If You Can See Me - but some who call Eno a god might want to reconsider. Hyde is in fine voice, avoiding some of the indulgences of his Underworld days, but best of all is hearing Eno's even, intelligent tenor again. They must be getting along as a second album, High Life, is just out along with an app, and perhaps we have Hyde to thank for getting Eno back on stage, at least on TV.

18. Nicole Atkins - Slow Phaser I came across Nicole Atkin's honeyed mezzo thanks to an off-hand reference to her on Holly Miranda's Instagram. While I sometimes wish Holly would lay off the social media and finish her album already (she started her Record A Record PledgeMusic project in 2011!), I am grateful for the pointer to Slow Phaser. This a great well-produced collection of pop songs, with heart, soul and wit to burn. Each song features a distinctive arrangement, with the disco groove of Girl You Look Amazing and the synthesizer throb of Cool People being especially catchy, and Atkins applies her gorgeous voice to her rich melodies and amusing lyrics with welcome restraint. For the life of me, I can't imagine why she doesn't get more attention.

19. Golden Retriever - Seer A duo of modular synthesizer and bass clarinet does not sound too promising, yet Matt Carlson and Jonathan Sielaff have managed to create a varied series of pieces that harkens back to the early days of exploratory electronic music, while still sounding completely up to date. There's simple beauty here, like the bird-songs of Archipelago, as well as the doomy outer-space landscapes of Petrichor, which is somewhat reminiscent of Harold Budd's classic Gypsy Violin. Flight Song is filled with yearning and soars along dreamily like a slightly edgier Vangelis track. While improvisation is definitely a part of their process, there's a sure compositional hand here keeping Seer tethered - and fascinating.

20. Perfect Pussy - Say Yes To Love I've already written about the live experience of Meredith Graves and co., but the album is a slightly different proposition. While some of the free jazz wall of sound is still here, along with sonic references to hardcore punk, there is also a well-deployed touch of pop sheen, especially on Big Stars and Interference Fits. Putting ambient sound art interludes into the mix, courtesy the electronics of Shaun Sutkus and controlled feedback from Ray McAndrew's guitars, adds welcome respite to the onslaught while also providing distance from the churning emotions of Graves's singing and lyrics. While they're not very prolific - there are only eight new songs on the album, which they pad out with four live tracks - it's dense enough that it deepens with repeated listens. With a name like Perfect Pussy, they were always going to attract rubberneckers, but they're in this for more than just sensationalism - I know I get a lot more than that out of this exciting record.



What will the rest of the year bring (besides Morrissey and the long-awaited return of Spoon)?

Best Of 2013

I'm not going to start, as I usually do, by commenting on the quality of the year's music. I believe that if you're hungry for good music and you apply yourself to finding it (I hope AnEarful can be of help), you will find more than enough nourishment in any given year. It's probably enough for me to say that, for the second year running, I am presenting a Top 20 and not a Top 10. I will also have a robust "Best Of The Rest Of" to follow and provide further directions to explore. Enough ado - here goes.

1. David Bowie - The Next Day I still feel as I did earlier this year, except more so now that time has molded these tracks into the warp and weft of my being. Even the somewhat weaker songs I delineated in my review have a crushing inevitability that is the result of an artist at full engagement with his craft and emotional core. Dropping that first video when he did in January, and all the subsequent remixes, bonus tracks and videos has made 2013 unequivocally the year of Bowie.

2. Kanye West - Yeezus Still astonishing after all these months. Mood swings from painfully raw to hilarious and everything in between.

3. Jenny O. - Automechanic In a perfect world, Haim would be opening for this enchanting singer and songwriter. With the help of master-producer Jonathan Wilson, she has crafted a richly detailed set of songs, many with a touching vulnerability beneath their road-hardened swagger.

4. Jonathan Wilson - Fanfare On the follow-up to 2011's brilliant Gentle Spirit, Wilson goes big AND goes home to a rich tapestry of sounds inspired by what must be a mother of a record collection.

5. Volcano Choir - Repave The other great record with Justin Vernon on it this year (see Yeezus, above). More live dates, please.

6. Jon Hopkins - Immunity It's been a great year for this dealer in texture and tension. Besides this Mercury-nominated collection he also put out an intense soundtrack for the dystopian thriller How I Live Now. Unlike Eno's quite nice Lux, Hopkins's work would never place in the New Age category at The Grammys.

7. Jace Clayton - The Julius Eastman Memory Depot While I'm still mourning the end of Clayton's often mind-blowing radio show (as DJ/Rupture), this furiously well-done introduction to Eastman was much more than a consolation prize. At times it sounds like nothing more than an extended intro to Mobb Deep's Quiet Storm. Mash it up, people.

8. Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold A disarming and shambolic façade reveals canny compositions and NYC classicism par excellence. Their new EP sketches out some new outposts.

9. Daniel Wohl - Corps Exquis This is a jewel-textured and compulsively listenable series of compositions that apparently has another life as a multiple-media performance piece. I say, just put it on and close your eyes…

10. The Darcys - Warring That these Torontonians are just getting better and better is proven by this journey into a heart of darkness partly inspired by Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian.

11. Prodigy & Alchemist - Albert Einstein Blazingly inventive beats inspire Prodigy to his best work since Return Of The Mac, also produced by Alchemist. Let's just say that once you hear about "weed smoke pouring out the bullet hole glass," you never forget it.

12. Wire - Change Becomes Us Rock & roll may eat its young but post punk bands never die (see also: Killing Joke).

13. Son Lux - Lanterns Third time is the charm for the omnivorously talented Ryan Lott. His solo performance on WNYC's Soundcheck (using prepared piano) demonstrated the rock-solid structure behind these songs.

14. Mystical Weapons - S/T Speaking of omnivorous talents, the protean Sean Lennon teams up with Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier on this series of improvisations filled with blistering twists and turns. Like electric Miles, it is always moving with purpose, even if the purpose becomes tangential.

15. Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap Chancellor Bennett's sheer excitement at being alive and coming to terms with his own prodigious talent is infectious, even when he's rapping about how "everyone dies in the summer." I would almost advise starting at the last song, Everything's Good (Good Ass Outro), which begins with a phone conversation in which Chance thanks his dad for the computer and the T-shirts - and especially for believing in him. When was the last time hip hop made you cry - in a good way?

16. The Strokes - Comedown Machine The former scuzz-rockers grow ever more intricate, without losing their explosive energy.

17. Jonwayne - Rap Album 1 A series of cassettes heralded the arrival of a fresh sounding producer and rapper. While the album lacked some of the sense of play that made the tapes so delightful, it felt like a true journey into the mind - for both creator and listener.

18. Isadora - EP One of New York's finest. Get in on the ground floor.

19. The Mavericks - In Time I had almost forgotten about these guys when they came roaring back with what may be their best album yet. With country radio a Swiftian wasteland (Taylor or Jonathan, take your pick) leaving them beholden to no one but themselves, they bring a few new sounds to their patented blend of Americana and Hispanica.

20. Mutual Benefit - Love's Crushing Diamond A gorgeously elaborate song cycle of muted joy and sorrow. While we wait for Robin Pecknold to go through his process, this touches on some of those Fleet Foxes sweet spots, while still sounding completely original and occasionally exotic. This is one that will last.

Listen to the Top 20 on Spotify.


Coming Next: The Best Of The Rest Of 2013, including reissues.

The Best of 2013 (So Far)

Bowie's back on top.

Typically, I'm the first person up in my house, getting up at about 5:00am to move the car, make the coffee, pack the lunches and clear the sink. I often catch up on favorite podcasts (like Soundcheck, Studio 360 or Sound Opinions) as I make these rounds but the morning of January 8th was different. I swiped open my iPhone to find a link cryptically shared by a friend of mine who lives in France. It seemed to be a new video by David Bowie - or about him - but I couldn't be quite sure. I broke from routine by tackling the sink first with the iPhone propped on the shelf in front of me, pressing "play" before turning on the water. My first thought was that the video for Where Are We Now? was a brilliant parody, that the need for new material from the Thin White Duke had inspired the internet to spew forth something that would cruelly taunt us fans. A minute into listening to the gorgeous, elegiac ballad and watching the intriguing visuals I knew: it was simply too good to be anything but the real thing. I could scarcely contain my elation at hearing something new from one of my heroes.

I also felt this was a good omen for the music of 2013 and that has been borne out by one great record after another. I'll attempt to corral it all in a preliminary Top Ten (which could become a Top 20 by year's end) and a few other lists.

1. David Bowie - The Next Day Here's why.

2. Kanye West - Yeezus Another masterpiece.

3. Jenny O. - Automechanic Great songs, great singing, deal sealed by Jonathan Wilson's brilliant production.

4. Jon Hopkins - Immunity Composer and producer Hopkins first came to my attention in 2010 as a collaborator on Small Craft On A Milk Sea, Brian Eno's finest record in many a year. Investigating further turned up some ok but not particularly characterful collections of electronic and ambient sounds. So my ears were open if not exactly primed when Hopkins appeared on Soundcheck earlier this year. His performance of Open Eye Signal quickly had me at full attention: Thick slabs of artfully arranged sounds welded to a groove of tectonic proportions built a composition that drew me in and engaged me completely. The rest of the album maintains the promise of Open Eye Signal, from glitchy tracks like Collider to the intimate ambient of Abandon Window and the title track. Electronic album of the year.

5. Jace Clayton - The Julius Eastman Memory Depot I would be mourning the death of Mudd Up much more if not for this dazzling record, which firmly establishes Clayton as a major proponent and participant in the avant garde.

6. Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold It was great to hear Greg Kot revise his already high opinion of this endearing record. At first he had focused on the "ramshackle vibe" and "casual surface" but further listening revealed the craftsmanship behind the songs on this "supremely well-done record." I don't usually quote other reviewers, but I really couldn't have said it better myself. Great stuff with a real New York attitude. Think it's as easy as it sounds? Fuggedaboutit. I can't wait to see them in concert again.

7. Daniel Wohl - Corps Exquis Based on the company he keeps in the new music scene in NYC and elsewhere, it was only a matter of time before I ran into Daniel Wohl's music, and based on the bracingly original and stunningly beautiful sounds on his debut album, I'm glad it didn't take any longer for me to get acquainted. Corps Exquis, performed to a tee by the quintet Transit and featuring valuable assistance from Julia Holter, Aaron Roche and So Percussion, is actually the soundtrack to a video and performance piece but stands completely, entrancingly, on its own. The melding and merging of electronics and acoustic instruments sounds so uncannily inevitable in the nine compositions that the mind ceases to worry what is making which sound. This is also richly affecting music that touches on a variety of emotional colors. Don't wait for the show to come to your town - just get this album.

8. Wire - Change Becomes Us Post-punks never die, they just get smarter.

9. Mystical Weapons - Mystical Weapons In which Sean Lennon and drummer Greg Saunier (of Deerhoof) prove that the vision of Miles Davis's electric period was never about virtuosity (although they are both virtuosic musicians), but rather a musique-concrete-esque coming together of improvised sounds and textures. Seeing them in concert was like witnessing telepathy. One thing they get right that a lot of similar freak-outs don't is dynamic range. Lennon and Saunier seem to think more like co-composers than co-improvisers, resulting in a record that is consistently more rewarding with each listen. Lennon's wandering career is such that this could easily be a one-off but that's fine - it's hard to imagine them bettering it.

10. Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap This free mixtape is an ambitious, sprawling, and almost cinematic collection from 20 year old Chancelor Bennett. Caught between adolescence and adulthood, he raps in a reedy voice about falling in love, falling into bad habits and missing his mom's cocoa butter kisses. He sometimes sings lines and his signature sound is a little shriek that can convey frustration, joy or anger. There's a rhythmic flexibility to Chance's flow that meshes perfectly with the jazz-based grooves on some of the songs. There are plenty of guests on Acid Rap but Chance is in full command and I predict a bright future for this brave and intelligent new voice.

Bubbling Under

Rock-Type Stuff: Both Comedown Machine by The Strokes and Ghost On Ghost by Iron & Wine received a lot of blowback but I like them both and return to their wells of emotion and musical ingenuity often.

Amok by Thom Yorke's Atoms For Peace sounded much as expected - terrific - but I can't help feeling that this material is going to really take off onstage. I've got tickets for one of their shows at Barclay's Center so I'll find out in September.

The Mavericks are back with In Time - and dare I say "better than ever"? The sheer sound and power of these master musicians and the makes it easy to overlook the moon/spoon/June lyrics and (Call Me) When You Get To Heaven brings a new operatic flavor to the picture.

Amor De Dias returned with a second album, The House At Sea, and it's just as gorgeous as the last one. Any year with something new from Alasdair MacLean is a good year.

Pere Ubu secured their legendary status for their first three records alone but they occasionally pull together and put out something new that proves the continuing relevance - and edginess - of their approach. Lady From Shanghai is an uncompromising example.

Disclosure is the duo of Guy and Howard Lawrence, brothers who seem to have absorbed practically everything about the last 20 years of dance music - and they're only in their early 20's - and figured how to refresh and revive it on Settle, their debut full-length. When A Fire Starts To Burn is the standout track and an instant classic floor-filler, but no one at your party will complain if you just leave the whole album on.

Hip Hop: Jonwayne has been on my radar since 2012's Quakers collection. Passing Fancies is merely the best of the quirky songs he's been releasing on cassette over the last couple of years. Can't wait for his official debut.

Prodigy & Alchemist's Albert Einstein is great, if not quite at the level of Return Of The Mac. Essential 2013 hip hop.

If Pusha-T can maintain the level of Numbers On The Boards for a whole solo album, we might stop wondering when the next Clipse album is coming out.

Jazz: I probably keep up with new jazz the least of all the kinds of music I listen to. If there were more records as bold, expansive and thrilling as Without A Net from the nearly 80-year-old Wayne Shorter, that would change in a heartbeat. Recorded at several live performances and featuring several compositions from his past as well as Pegasus, a new work performed with Imani Winds, Shorter and his blazing quartet splash around on stage like whales in a bathtub - its joyful but you feel disaster could be around the corner. It's called "without a net" for a reason.

Classical: The world of Brooklyn Rider produced two great albums so far this year: A Walking Fire, which features Bela Bartok's Third Quartet bookended by contemporary gypsy music and a new composition from violinist Colin Jacobson; and Recursions, the wonderfully wide solo debut by violist Nicolas Cords.

Benjamin Britten's centennial has produced one new classic recording amidst all the reissues and repackages: Britten Songs by tenor Ian Bostridge, accompanied by the piano of Sir Antonio Pappano, and, on five songs, guitarist Xuefei Yang. It's sublime.

Out Of The Past: Speaking of reissues, Light In The Attic has packaged Bobby Whitlock's first two solo albums as Where There's A Will There's A Way and it burns. Anyone who has been moved by his vocals on Derek & The Dominoes tracks will want to dive into his emotionally profligate way with a song. Big, bold arrangements performed by an all-star cast (Harrison, Clapton, etc.). 

Another great label, Strut, has done something of a public service by exhuming the work of Romanian progressives, Rodion G.A. A touch of Krautrock, a touch of psych - it get's better with every listen. Thankfully The Lost Tapes are lost no more!

The wonders of the Miles Davis Bootleg series continue with volume two, Live In Europe 1969, which features a line-up that never recorded in the studio. Four concerts, one on DVD, and you won't want to miss a note.

Finally, more Hendrix is on sale. Again. But fortunately, People, Hell & Angels is as fresh and energetic as Valleys of Neptune was slack and rehashed. The remixing might be slightly aggressive but it's great to hear his guitar jump out and transform the air around you. Supposedly, this is the last new collection of studio material. I assume that means that the Experience Hendrix folks will be concentrating on live recordings, so I'll put my vote in for a professionally mixed release of the storming set at Randall's Island in 1970.

What 2013 releases are still in rotation around your way?

Buzz Buzz In My Eardrum

It was the most buzzed about show of the...week? Month? Day? Either way, the buzz for me was only about one of the three bands playing at Bowery Ballroom last Thursday: Parquet Courts. In fact, I had bought the tickets with nearly complete ignorance of the other two bands on the bill, Nude Beach and The Men, the ostensible headliners.

I had fallen hard for Parquet Courts back in January, when What's Yr Rupture reissued their debut album, Light Up Gold. Their songs distill early Pere Ubu, Wire and Velvet Underground, with a little of The Strokes and The Walkmen tossed in, into a fresh, driving sound. The accomplishment of the music, with it's tight rhythms, canny guitar interlock and contrasting voices, is nicely contrasted by the slacker aimlessness of some of the lyrics. Many of the songs are short, so Stoned & Starving at 5:11 stands out. At whatever length it would be an instant New York anthem: "I was walking through Ridgewood, Queens/I was flipping through magazines/I was so/Stoned & starving." Just try not to sing along.

Everything pointed to Parquet Courts being a great live band, too, so I put them in my Songkick, hoped for the best, and snapped up the first tickets I could. Before the show, I did my due diligence and listened to Nude Beach and The Men. The former is a shockingly traditional band. Tom Petty is often mentioned, and he is definitely present, along with The Replacements and Stiff-era Elvis Costello. Their second album, II, is not bad at all, with some catchy tunes. The Men I initially found confusing as they've made some whiplash shifts, from wall-of-noise meta-punk on their earlier albums to the sometimes more pastoral sounds on their latest New Moon. The vocals are not very distinctive and I can't say I found any of it terribly convincing but I would at least be walking into Bowery Ballroom with some measure of what to expect - and with open ears.

The show was sold out and, while the room didn't fill up for Parquet Courts, everyone who did get there early enough to see them was devoted. They set up without fuss, with singer/guitarist Andrew Savage and singer/guitarist Austin Brown flanking bassist Sam Yeaton, and drummer Max Savage at the back. The name of the band comes from Yeaton's hometown, where the Celtics play on parquet courts in the famous Boston Garden (who wants to call it TD Garden? Not me), and songs often began with his emphatic bass setting the tone. Andrew Savage is an expert at the Lou Reed single-string + controlled feedback solo and his sinewy lines were consistently engaging, while Brown mostly played chunky rhythm guitar. Max Savage is a great drummer and his attentiveness to his band mates allowed them to shift from one tempo to the next without hesitation.

They doled out the short songs expertly, often creating vertiginous portmanteaus of two songs with one ending on the upbeat and the next starting on the down. The way No Donuts collides with Yr No Stoner on Light Up Gold gives a good idea of what was a thrilling effect in an overall thrilling set. It was a spare 45 minutes, due to them being first on the bill, and could have perhaps used a touch of chaos. I plan to be there when they start headlining and (hopefully) pushing their music to the edge in a much more crowded room.

The three members of Nude Beach took the stage next - Chuck Betz on guitar, Ryan Naideau on bass, and Jimmy Shelton on drums. As promised by their album, they were tight and fun if maybe missing that one standout song and the indelible singing that could separate them from the pack. I found much to admire in Betz's guitar solos - each one told a concise little tale with a beginning, middle and end. I stayed for the whole set and wouldn't be surprised if more exciting stuff comes from them down the pike.

It was coming up on 11:00pm on a school night and I decided to leave it to The Men to convince me to stay later than advisable. I got my coat from the coat check and moved to the back of the room, which was now jammed to capacity. Anticipation was running high in the crowd and while I was not untouched by its contagion, I remained an outsider. The band eventually took the stage, minus their drummer, and started up one of their big noisy intros, with a sax wailing away in the mix. Eventually, the song proper kicked in when the drummer joined them and the audience went nuts. I remained unmoved and when one of the guys went into an ill-fitting amateur-hour monologue about Jimi Hendrix, I gave up and left. I am grateful to The Men for one thing: their utter mediocrity kept me from being severely sleep deprived for a very demanding schedule the next day.