Best Of 2020: Rock, Folk, Etc.

Like I've probably said too many times before, I was born in 1964 so this realm is in my epigenetic makeup. More than 60 percent of my Top 25 was from these genres, but that was only scratching the surface of what excited me. Previously covered albums are at the top and then there are a couple dozen more must-hear albums. Don't take the sub-genres too seriously, just a noble attempt to group like with like. Press play on this playlist or below to listen while you read.

Of Note In 2020: Rock, Folk, Etc.
Nadia Reid - Out Of My Province
Ocean Music x Jerome Ellis - Morsels - Note: Get the cassette; only 18 remaining!
Squirrel Flower - I Was Born Swimming
Dana Gavanski - Yesterday Is Gone
Ultraista - Sister
Wire - Mind Hive - Note: See also the equally excellent 10:20.
Porridge Radio - Every Bad
Dogleg - Melee
The Strokes - The New Abnormal
Lucinda Williams - Good Souls, Better Angels

Best Of 2020 (So Far)
Them Airs - Union Suit XL - Note: See also Doped Runner Verse, which shoots off in some interesting new directions for this combo.

Record Roundup: Songs And Singers
Caitlin Pasko - Greenhouse
The Dead Tongues - Transmigration Blues
Alex Rainer - Time Changes 
Emma Swift - Blonde On The Tracks
Billie Eilish - Live At Third Man Records

Record Roundup: In Their Prime
Michael Zapruder - Latecomers

Record Roundup: Catching Up (Sort Of)
S.G. Goodman - Old Time Feeling
Jeffrey Silverstein - You Become The Mountain
Melody Fields - Broken Horse
Boogarins - Levitation Sessions and Manchaca Vol. 1

Live And Direct
No surprise: the shutdown of concerts has led to a slate of live albums, many catalyzed by Bandcamp Fridays to devote proceeds to one important cause or another - or just to support artists who depend on the road for their livelihood. Here are a few of my favorites.

Father John Misty - Off-Key In Hamburg Recorded in 2019 with an eight-piece band and the 14-piece Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt:, this 20-song career overview finds the good Father in spectacular form. Your $10 will go to the the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund - and give you hours of pleasure.

Scott Hirsch - Hirsch and the Minglers Live at The Colony, Tulsa. March 17, 2018 Supposedly recorded on an old Teac by "Wizard," this mesmeric live set is best experienced on the home-dubbed cassette, which adds an extra layer of murk. The digital version is pay-what-you-will with 100% of the proceeds split between the Black Wall St. Times and the Oklahoma ACLU. Your generosity will be rewarded!

Stargazer Lilies - Live At Sherman Theater I've been listening to these volume-driven varlets for several years and this virtual performance recorded in November 2020 shows them now ready for the big stage at your local festival. Nine bucks gets you the album and a private link to view the concert video - put it up on the flatscreen.

Scott & Charlene's Wedding - Live At The Tote This collection, caught on a steamy January night in Melbourne finds Craig Dermody's shambolic band putting 10 years of work to rest in storming fashion. Every home should have at least one SACW album - why not make it this one?

Arctic Monkeys - Live At The Royal Albert Hall Recorded in 2018 just after the release of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, this set finds the band handling the atmospheric demands of the new material like the pros they are, while still sounding hungry on the early material. All proceeds go to War Child UK and that clear vinyl package sure looks sweet.

Frankie & The Witch Fingers - Levitation Sessions While I'm still stung by the fact I haven't seen these psych-infused heavy groovers on stage, this lessens that a bit - while providing a fine introduction to their sound.

Hamilton Leithauser - Live! At The Café Carlyle I always wanted to get to one of these shows, but the ticket price and minimum kept me away. Now I have this perfect keepsake of the loose vibe Leithauser encourages at these shows, recorded in January 2020. The cover of Randy Newman's Miami that opens the album is a perfect introduction to what is to come. The band is killer, too, with Morgan Henderson and Skyler Skjelset from Fleet Foxes on hand, along with Walter Martin, Jr. from The Walkmen. With Stuart Bogie (Antibalas) on horns and Nicole Atkins on backing vocals, the riches are almost embarrassing, but someone of Leithauser's titanic talents deserve no less.

Hiss Golden Messenger - Forward, Children and School Daze The staggering density of M.C. Taylor's songwriting catalog is well-represented by these TWO live albums, both fundraisers for Durham Public Schools students, which repeat no songs. The first is from one night at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC, and gives a good idea of the dynamics of a typical Hiss concert (I've been to a few!), while the second cherry-picks from several shows. Taken together, you get two-and-a-half hours of one of the best live performers of our time, right in your living room, and the privilege of lending a hand to public schools.

Phil Cook - Eau Claire, WI - 8​/​13​/​2016 @ Eaux Claires Festival Out of the seven(!) shows Cook has made available on his Bandcamp, I grabbed this one due to my romantic need to experience the Eaux Claires Festival any way I can. It's a great show, too, with the Guitarheels, including Ryan Gustafson of the Dead Tongues, in full flight. Pick any show at random and your $5 will guarantee a good time that's equal parts heartwarming and joyful.

Folk-And/Or-Americana-Infused

Loma - Don't Shy Away Two years ago, I wasn't sure if we would hear more from this group of Emily Cross, Dan Duszynski, and Jonathan Meiburg (of Shearwater) after their debut, which I called a "compelling blend of haunting folk and immersive sonics." It seemed they were unsure as well, but interest from Brian Eno and their own motivations impelled them onward to this gorgeous collection. The folk influence is still there, but there's also hypnotic electronic gleam, even a bit of Giorgio Moroder, on this one, including Eno's work mixing the last track, Homing. With Cross's serene vocals lending consistency to the variety of sounds and structures, Loma sound ever more like a real band. Now, let's see how they do with that "difficult third album."

Tomberlin - Projections Following up the gauzy folk of 2018's At Weddings, Tomberlin displays a wispy strength on this 5-song EP of carefully augmented future sing-alongs.

Jeff Tweedy - Love Is The King Well, he told us he was low-key, so this downbeat collection contains few surprises - but still gives a good helping of what makes him one of our key songwriters. 

This Is The Kit - Off Off On Kate Stables shows the magic of Moonshine Freeze was no accident. Inventive horn arrangements spice up mesmerizing song-craft infused with the melodies of British isles ancients. Accept no substitutes - and when she says “Keep going,” you will believe her.

Lera Lynn - On My Own That title is no joke - Lynn wrote, sang, played, and produced every note. But when you fall for her rich voice and pop-rock-folk smarts, how it got made will be the last thing on your mind.

John Calvin Abney - Familiar Ground Inserting himself ever-more firmly into the clearing created by Wilco, Elliott Smith, Gene Clark, etc., Abney has given us an exceptionally well-crafted set, with many songs speaking directly to our present moment.

Chris Maxwell - New Store No. 2 There are few writers in any medium who combine cleverness and wisdom so seamlessly. Featuring the best production of his career, touching on British psych and Laurel Canyon slickness, this is a new landmark for Maxwell.

Charlie Kaplan - Sunday Although I often argue with what Kaplan deems important in his newsletter, he gets all the influences right here - from Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen to the Stones - with the added thrill of hearing someone discover their own voice.

Indie Pop

Eric Slick - Wiseacre The title implies a lack of seriousness, but Slick knows what he's doing - and he keeps the pop-soul party from Natalie Prass's last album going quite nicely. He even has her in for a duet on one track. Sweet.

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher It took a few listens to connect the catharsis of the last track, I Know The End, to what had come before, but finally a complete album emerged, and one making a considerable leap from her first. Led by her deceptively airy voice, Bridgers crafts songs that overlay universal themes on personal experiences with wit and skill. 

Art-Rock

Bartees Strange - Live Forever While I don't share his reverence for The National, if that was part of his path to this dazzling debut, so be it. There's more variety (and passion) here than some display in a whole career.

Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison Despite my anti-Nationalist comment above, perhaps it's just the Dessners that leave me cold. In either case, working with the legendary Booker T. Jones has brought out a new side to Berninger, with well-shaped melodies and an all-too relatable emotional landscape of sorrow and regret. The production finds a perfect balance between Booker T.'s classicism and Berninger's avant-indie leanings. 

Historian - Distractions and Barriers In the 60's it wasn't uncommon to release two or more albums in a year, so why not Chris Karman in 2020? Take your pick from the dark propulsion of Distractions to the washy sketches of Barriers.

Eclectica 

Carabobina - Carabobina This collabo between Boogarins bassist Raphael Vaz Costa and Sao Paulo-based engineer Alejandra Luciani delivers on the promise of "Brazilian noise pop" with serene confidence.

Cornershop - England Is A Garden Easily their best since that stunning third album, with all the bittersweet fun that implies. They have now been born for the eighth time. Or the second - you know what I mean!

Bananagun - The True Story Of Bananagun These Aussie pranksters outdo nearly everyone on this list for sheer quotient of FUN. Leader  Nick van Bakel must have a hell of a record collection.

Fleur - Fleur I may have misspoke - Fleur's updated Ye-Ye, expertly backed by Les Robots, may have Bananagun beat at the "fun" game. What the heck, get'em both!

Kol Marshall - Elemental Truths To A Funky Beat Producer/engineer/multi-instrumentalist Marshall concocts head-nodding grooves with touches of funk and reggae - and a much-needed dose of Walter Becker's attitude. 

Aksak Maboul - Figures 30 years later, Marc Hollander brings back these art-punk legends, joined by dulcet-toned Veronique Vincent, and for 13 tracks the results are astonishing. The next nine songs however...skip'em.

Rock ON

Andy Bell - The View From Halfway Down The first track satisfies my Ride needs more than their reunion albums, but going solo has also given Bell the freedom to explore and he lands on distant shores, finding treasure on each one.

Adeline Hotel - Solid Love The most focused collection of Dan Knishkowy's introspective indie yet, sensitively and warmly accompanied by Whatever's Clever founder Ben Seretan, et al. 

Post-Punk 4 Life

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Sideways To New Italy Two albums in and RBCF have found more passion and personality, lending their two-guitar jangle new urgency and interest, with soaring melodies and biting solos. I'm glad they stuck with it - and that I kept listening.

Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death Album two finds these Irish purveyors of rote retro punk embracing the beauty and darkness of post-punk to much more convincing - and even thrilling - effect.

Self Defense Family - 2020 Singles Upstate NY post-punkers get back on their singles grind and release an album's worth of great songs. Listen to my playlist, then get to Bandcamp to buy your favorites.

There's more to be found from 2020 in my archive playlist and you can keep up with 2021 here.

You may also enjoy:
Best Of 2019: Rock, Folk, Etc. 
Best Of 2018: Rock, Folk, Etc. 
Best Of 2017: Rock, Folk, Etc.
Best Of 2016: Rock, Folk, Etc.

Record Roundup: Cornucopia Of Folk And Americana

I hate to feel that I’m keeping music from people, so before I start my Best Of 2018 series, here are quick takes on some excellent albums in the realms of folk and Americana. I think you’ll find some of them perfect for wintry nesting as the sun sets early and snow brushes the window panes. Others may be good for the family gatherings that can define this time of year.

Raoul Vignal - Oak Leaf It’s rare that you hear an album this assured and accomplished from a well-known artist. But when someone flying under the radar presents such an exquisite piece of work as Oak Leaf, it feels even more astonishing. On this second album by the French singer-songwriter, finger-picked guitars weave a spell alongside occasional shimmering vibes or a gentle sax. Drums tick away minimally in the background. Over it all is Vignal’s hushed voice delivering (in English) introspective confessions and musings. I see a danger of Vignal becoming a “musician’s musician” or a “best-kept secret.” It's up to you not to let that happen.

Olivia Chaney - Shelter Both the production (by Thomas Bartlett) and Chaney’s voice are so polished that I was at first turned off by this, her second album. But then it dawned on me that there was a flood of emotion being held back by a levee of glassy perfection. The key to this is her stunning version of O Solitude, a 300-year-old song by Henry Purcell. The feeling in it is baked into the lyrics and Purcell’s haunting melody, which is the standard she’s set for her own songs. Her lofty ambition is more than repaid, making for a special listening experience. I also wouldn’t complain if her next album was entirely Purcell, John Dowland, and other centuries-old British luminaries. 

Ocean Music - Jorge Marco Turino, Beach Captain, Etc. I’ve written before about the wondrous music of Richard Aufrichtig, which he usually puts out as Ocean Music. While he has been fairly prolific in 2018, I have it on good authority that the best is yet to come. The first of these is a five-song EP of originals, played solo with either piano or acoustic guitar. It’s a beautiful recording and his expansive songs are easy to get lost in. Beach Captain is mostly covers, some old, like Bird On A Wire, and some newer like Joanna Newsom’s Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie. He always goes deep, making them his own, no more so than in a mournful take on Someday by The Strokes. We’ve also been graced with a shimmering, powerful version of Aufrichtig’s Ghost Song with a full band, the closest any recording has yet come to the Ocean Music live experience. Finally, we have two songs from a recent concert at Baby’s All Right - I was there so you can trust me when I say this is just a hint of how great it was. But it’s par for the course for Aufrichtig to drop hints; here’s hoping we get the full story in 2019. 

Phil Cook - People Are My Drug Spending time with Cook’s music is like feeling the sun on your face after a week of rain. This is especially true in concert, as a recent show at Bowery Ballroom (with Andy Jenkins opening!) proved yet again. He draws you in with his smile and seals the deal with his killer guitar and sweet voice. Those last two elements are present on this follow-up to 2015’s  Southland Mission, as well as an increased interest in gospel fervor. That means the album is plenty inspiring, even if the songwriting is a little less sharp. My only other quibble has to do with the inclusion of Amelia Meath of Sylvan Esso on several songs - but that’s just because I don’t really like her voice or her band. I guess the divine Alexandra Sauser-Monnig wasn't available! If you feel differently, you will likely be thrilled with her contributions here. Either way, it’s a fine album and if you get a chance to see Cook on stage, don’t hesitate!

The Dead Tongues - Unsung Passage I first caught wind of Ryan Gustafson, who performs under this name, when he opened for and played with Phil Cook at Rough Trade. He quickly lodged in my mind as a master of all things stringed, as well as a fine singer and songwriter deep in the American vein. Now we have his most assured record yet, weaving a spell through a variety of country and folk-tinged textures and settings. To my ears he’s most effective when he pushes it furthest, as on the haunting Ebb And Flow or My Other, which, with its flutes and strings, is the first song that’s reminded me of Nico’s magisterial Chelsea Girl since I first heard that record. It’s fantastic, easily one of the most gorgeous songs of the year. But this whole record deserves your attention. If you give it that, you will likely become a fan of The Dead Tongues. 

John Calvin Abney - Coyote Go take a look at issue #116 of Off Your Radar for a kaleidoscopic look at Abney’s last album, Far Cries And Close Calls. Done? Good. Now, believe me when I say this one is even better. The production alone is worthy of note, burnished and warm, like an old oak table - and the songs are just as solid. Abney’s voice has a touch of Wings-era McCartney and he’s learned a few songwriting lessons from the former Fab as well. These aren't annoying earworms, though, but rather songs that employ sophisticated and unexpected chord changes in a relaxed and naturalistic fashion. This makes for songs that are memorable but also nourishing, repaying repeat and close listening. If Coyote doesn’t significantly expand Abney’s audience, I don’t know what will. 

Anna St. Louis - If Only There Was A River Every once in a while something in my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist will floor me, causing me to stop what I’m doing and make sure to find out all the W’s: who, what, when. Last week it was a song from St. Louis’s previous album, First Songs, something with hypnotic fingerpicking, beautiful singing, and a shapely melody. That came out in 2017 and just as I was cursing Spotify and the world for keeping it from me, I noticed she had a new album out. This is a more fully produced affair, but thankfully Kyle Thomas and Kevin Morby have nurtured St. Louis’s talents rather than blanketing them in their own ideas. The songs are exquisite enough on their own - the task is not to ruin them and at that Morby and Thomas more than succeed. Numerophiles who own Catherine Howe's What A Beautiful Place may find a point of reference. This is an album people will be talking about - don’t wait around for an algorithm to deliver it to you.

Billy Joseph & The Army Of Love - You Know Which Way To Go This is my first cousin, OK, but that's not the only reason I've had his latest record on repeat. This is just an excellent collection of soulful rock & folk - and sometimes just plain soul in the Al Green and Robert Cray stylings of Second Time Around. The production is expansive and well-tailored to every song, including a very original take on Suspicious Minds. Stinging guitar leads (either by Nick Kirgo or Billy himself) are lavished on the album with an almost gustatory pleasure and the horns on Holiday Song are sublime. The lyrics can cut to the quick, as on that last song, as honest a depiction of holiday loneliness as has ever been written. "Bing Crosby's on the TV set, I can see him through the window of a furniture store," Billy sings in a line worthy of a scene from a Douglas Sirk classic - just one of the gems to be found on this impressive record. If you live in L.A., he's probably playing somewhere tonight so go out and see him do his thing.

Jeff Tweedy - Warm For the last few years (maybe since the excellent Sukierae) it’s been a bit of a toss-up whether or not a Tweedy product is going to truly touch me or just be another expression of consummate competence to be admired and put away. While it’s early days yet with Warm, which is his first true solo album in a 25-year career, I’m pleased to report that I believe this is one of the former. As always, the songs are well-written, but the sense of intimacy, the feeling of someone hoping their hard-won truths will help get you through, is welcome. The musical settings are spare, sensitive - listen to the drumming on From Far Away - and lived-in, harkening back to John Wesley Harding or Plastic Ono Band. Tweedy’s mastery of the pithy lyric is also on full display, using a few words to carry heavy freight, like the chorus of the title track: “I don't believe in Heaven/I keep some heat inside/Like a red brick in the summer/Warm when the sun has died.” There’s enough wisdom on Warm to fill a book - and Tweedy has one of those, too! Listen, read, and celebrate one of our master artists hitting a new peak. 

Don’t these albums sound like they would be fodder for a great playlist? Gotcha covered (except for Oak Leaf)! See below or click here. What else would you add?

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Outliers, Part 2: Seabuckthorn and David Garland
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Autumn Albums, Part 2
The Wilco Diaspora Part 2: Tweedy & Son

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!

New Americana, Pt. 1: Phil Cook

Phil Cook, kicking things off with the Guitarheels at Rough Trade last month.

Even if you haven't heard of Phil Cook, chances are you've heard him. If you were seeking more Justin Vernon after having your mind blown by Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago you would have come across DeYarmond Edison, the somewhat somber folk-rock band that included both Vernon and Cook. Then there was Megafaun, the band Phil formed with his brother Brad and drummer Joe Westerlund after DeYarmond broke up. Their sound was on the haunting end of "freak folk," but while accomplished and interesting it could sometimes grow aimless. Google would also give you Gayngs, an indie supergroup with Vernon, Cook, and members of Polica, Doomtree, etc., that produced a sort of slippery art-yacht rock.

I was tracking all of this without totally falling down the rabbit hole, finding more satisfaction in Volcano Choir, another Justin Vernon side project. Then came a moment when Phil Cook became a real person to me, rather than just a hyperlinked name on a wide variety of Wikipedia posts. I was in the first flush of infatuation (now a deep and abiding love) with Hiss Golden Messenger's brilliant Lateness Of Dancers, to which Cook contributed mightily. They were performing on WFUV so I dialed up the video and was stunned. There was M.C. Taylor, the principal member of HGM surrounded by musicians who were just so into it that I had to know more. I especially wanted to know who it was helping Taylor produce the hypnotic guitar weave of Southern Grammar and playing the sweet slide on Lucia. That was Phil Cook, as it happened, and his commitment was magnetic.

So when his new album, Southland Mission, was announced, I was primed. It was being promoted as his first, although he had released some beautiful if studied work a few years ago under the name Phil Cook & His Feat. This felt different from the get-go. For one thing, there was Phil, big as life on the cover, Buddy Holly glasses and all. Here was a guy coming out of the shadows, no longer hiding as either a session musician or band member, or behind his roots-music scholarship.

The first song, Ain't It Sweet, bears this impression out immediately. After some bluesy strumming and a bit of barrel-house piano it busts out into an all-American gospel-inflected boogie, with fiddle, massed vocals, and a delirious slide guitar solo. Yes, it is sweet - very. And when I saw Phil launch his tour at Rough Trade last month he leapt into that solo like a man let out of a cage. I think he literally kicked his heels. It was beautiful to watch and the members of his seven-piece band were having as much fun as he was.

There was actually an eighth member of the band, though it went un-introduced. This was the tube amp Cook uses to get his signature over-driven, fiery guitar sound. He didn't need to wear a Staples Singers t-shirt (though he was) to reveal his debt to Pops Staples, whose trademark shimmer gives deep roots to everyone from John Fogerty, Tony Joe White and Robbie Robertson. But as his high-kicking performance showed time and again, Cook owns his material, bringing his deep knowledge of the American musical tapestry forward though commitment (that word again) and love.

Phil Cook gets into it at Rough Trade.

The second cut on Southland Mission is a faithful but richly elaborated version of Charlie Parr's 1922 Blues, a great song in the traditional vein that benefits from Cook's studio skills, ably helped by his brother Brad and a big group of like-minded souls. Great Tide draws on some of Sister Rosetta Tharp's big-chord power, with more slide from Cook. Belong blends fiddle, banjo and mandolin, creating a nice bed for Cook's warm tenor voice. It flirts with a hoe-down but never feels clichéd.

Sitting On A Fence Too Long cleverly forms the spine of the nine song album: "Don't want to die here in the middle, sitting on a fence too long." It's a sly stomp that becomes a sing-along (in concert, literally) that makes me want to hear Cook and company cover Black Water by The Doobie Brothers. Lowly Road is pure blues-gospel hypnotism with a neat little screamer of a riff. Addictive stuff. Pops Staples would approve and he would probably also dig the chorus of "If you want to get to Jesus, you gotta walk that lowly road." If this is Christian rock, gimme more.

At Rough Trade we learned that Time To Wake Up is a reverse lullaby for Cook's son Ellis, who apparently has trouble getting up from his nap. Cook had us all singing it, bringing us into the family. Anybody Else is pure warmth, an extremely well-written song that could hold its own with nearly any American 70's classic. Call it Southland Mission's secret weapon if you want - whatever you call it, you will hit repeat. The album ends with Gone, a tight southern rocker that features a star turn from genius bass player Cameron Ralston, known for his work with Matthew E. White and Natalie Prass.

In concert, the bass duties were handled by the incredible Michael Libramento, who I last saw holding down the low end for Natalie Prass. The band, known as the Guitarheels, also included Ryan Gustafson on guitars, who had opened the show as The Dead Tongues. Gustafson can play anything with strings apparently, and has a way with an Appalachian melody, but I liked him best when he let it rip a bit on Cook's songs. Libramento and Gustafson put the level of musicianship at a high level that night and every song achieved liftoff. Surprisingly, the fiddle player was a pick-up, an NYU student who joined the band at sound check and fit right in by the time we got there.

The Dead Tongues (Ryan Gustafson) with strings at Rough Trade.

It was a joyful show, a coming out party for a real-deal musician and songwriter. He also proved to be as nice a guy as you can imagine, hanging out after lights-up until Rough Trade staff asked us to move along. I did have one purely selfish question for him. "Does all this mean you won't be with Hiss Golden Messenger when they play Baby's All Right in November?" After a minute of calculating his schedule, which fills October with 20 dates in 20 cities in Europe and the UK, he assured me that he would be there. That's going to be quite a night for me and, as of now, will be your next opportunity to get a taste of the Phil Cook magic in New York. Until then, get Southland Mission and have your own private revival meeting.

You might also like:
The Surprising Natalie Prass
Matthew E. White: Seeking Transcendence
No Longer A Big Inner
Repaving The Way To A Fantastic Fall
The Best of 14

Fall Preview 2015

When the sunlight decreases and the temperatures begin to drop, a new layer of cells forms that cuts off leaves from the branches that supply their nutrients. The leaves are eventually released from their trees and drift to the ground. The fall album release schedule will see many musical leaves drift toward us, but instead of being dead they will come to glorious life in that infinite space of the universe between our ears. Here are a few things that should make this a very colorful autumn.

Guilty Simpson - Detroit's Son This gritty rapper has been at it for a while, honing his flow and never settling for less when it comes to the beats he rhymes over. This new album, produced by Quakers member Katalyst, is his strongest album yet. Out September 11th on Stones Throw. 

Phil Cook - Southland Mission Cook's pedigree as a member of Megafaun, a former associate of Justin Vernon's in DeYarmond Edison, and a member of Hiss Golden Messenger's touring band, among other things, guaranteed his new album would be worth a listen. And it is - repeatedly, in fact. Rootsy and meticulously produced, Southland Mission is the real "new Americana" - accept no substitutes. Cook is also heading out on an international tour but you can catch him at Rough Trade in NYC on September 23rd. Out September 11th.

Dr. John - The Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968-1974 Looking at the peak of Mac Rebennack's legendary career through the prism of his singles should be a recipe for pure pleasure. Make sure you're in the right place at the right time. Out September 18th on Omnivore.

Lloyd Price - sumdumhonky Not a record but an autobiography that promises to be a "no holds barred" look at 80 years in the life of a founding father of rock'n'roll (Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Stagger Lee, etc., etc.). Price has survived in every aspect of the music business while also surviving as a black man in America during tumultuous times past and present. Out October 13th from Cool Titles.

Killing Joke - Pylon The 16th album (and first since 2012) from the post-punk legends will feature their original lineup again. Beyond that not much is known,but judging by the pummeling Autonomous Zone, which they have played in concert, James Murphy needn't worry: they haven't lost their edge. Out October 23rd on Spinefarm.

Van Morrison - His Band and the Street Choir Moondance was a delight but this was the album that sealed the deal for me with Van Morrison. This expanded version will likely earn its keep with the alternate take of I've Been Working, which is supposed to be even funkier than the released version. Van's masterpiece Astral Weeks is also getting the deluxe treatment. Out October 30th on Warner Bros./Rhino. 

Boots - Aquaria Everything I've heard from this makes me think it's going to be more interesting than anything a Beyonce collaborator should be capable of doing. The sounds are lapidary but Boots doesn't seem as sure of himself as a singer and it remains to be seen if that will be a deal-breaker. Out November 13th on Columbia.

Kanye West - Swish Okay, now that we know you don't understand awards shows, can you stay away from them until you finish the follow-up to the mighty Yeezus? Out TBD.

Concert Forecast

The magic doesn't only happen in the studio. Here are some highly recommended live experiences in NYC. Many of these people are performing elsewhere as well - check your local listings, as they say. 

Holly Miranda will be playing at the Mercury Lounge on Thursday, September 17th and Friday September 18th. Those will be full-band concerts but the creator of my number one album of the year so far will also be playing a special solo concert at The Studio in Freehold, NJ on September 11th. That's the one I'm going to and I'm bringing cookies for the potluck. Www.concertsinthestudio.com

Ibeyi will be gracing the stage of Webster Hall with their intoxicating blend of world sounds and hip hop production on Friday October 2nd.

Nicole Atkins, whose Slow Phaser was a big favorite from 2014, will be playing Webster Hall with J.D. McPherson on Friday October 9th. 

Michael Chapman and Ryley Walker will both be at Rough Trade NYC, also on Friday, October 9th. This lineup may just win the "embarrassment of riches" award for 2015.

Chance The Rapper and several friends will be at Terminal 5 on Sunday, October 25th. As much as I want to see him, I'll have to see if I'm in the mood for a posse concert.

Wand will be bringing their unique brand of buzzing-amplifier mayhem to Mercury Lounge and Rough Trade NYC on Friday November 13th and Saturday November 14th, respectively.

Winter Bonus

Baroness - Purple Some fans were underwhelmed by their last album, Yellow & Gold, but I thought it was beautiful. The heavy stuff had a lighter touch and the lighter songs were only deceptively so. Baroness's rise was slowed by a devastating bus accident that led to the departure of two members. They regrouped and worked their way back to full strength on the road. Purple will be the first album with their new rhythm section of bassist Nick Jost and drummer Sebastian Thomson (known for his work in Trans Am), and based on Chlorine & Wine it's going to be a doozy. Out December 18.

If you want an easy way to listen to what I'm fussing about, here's a handy Spotify playlist:  http://open.spotify.com/user/jshatan/playlist/24Fm3xWcD1S1gEaVZ088bS.

What are you looking forward to?