Record Roundup: Vox Humana

From choruses to individual singers, there is something about the sounds of other people's voices that can elicit strong emotions - and make us feel less alone. In sorting through the flood of new music from the last few months, I found my attention drawn by several albums that put the focus the human voice, making them perfect for these times of isolation and limited contact with others. 

Roomful Of Teeth - Michael Harrison: Just Constellations It's easy to take this vocal ensemble for granted, such is the consistency of their excellence. But they continue to push into new territories and this EP, reflecting a deep collaboration with the composer, is a great example of how their preternatural skill can translate into a heavenly listening experience. The difficulty of the piece, sung in just intonation and designed to be heard in the extremely resonant space of The Tank in Rangley Colorado, is all under the hood, as the results sound as natural as breathing. Read their notes to go deeper into the La Monte Young influence and look at Harrison's titles to pick up the poetry behind his conception, but neither is necessary to be transported by this remarkable work.

Roomful Of Teeth - Wally Gunn: The Ascendant Based on the evocative, high modernist poetry of Maria Zajkowski, this enigmatic work shows the range of Roomful, both stylistically and in terms of octaves. The deep bass and higher notes are knit together by the metronomic percussion of Jason Treuting of SO Percussion, which also lends a sense of ritual occasion to the piece. There's a barely banked wildness to The Ascendant, like a placid landscape where nature's violence is hidden only by distance from which you're viewing it. In short, it's furiously compelling, and the power of the piece is even greater than I imagined based on the three parts sprinkled throughout Roomful's 2015 album, Render. It's easy to see why the vinyl edition of this (and Just Constellations) sold out in short order!

Lorelei Ensemble - David Lang: Love Fail (Version for Women's Chorus) 
Quince Ensemble - David Lang: Love Fail
This beautiful work from 2012, which weaves legends of Tristan and Isolde from various sources with short stories by Lydia Davis, was originally recorded in 2014 by those masters of the Medieval, Anonymous Four. Now, we have two new recordings, with one being a reworked version for more voices, which Lorelei premiered in 2016. The Quince Ensemble display more verve and warmth than Anonymous Four, making their recording the new go-to in the original scoring. But it's the Lorelei Ensemble, and Lang's brilliant use of harmony, that fully illuminates the haunting power of the piece, giving it a spacious 3-D quality that is truly immersive. A triumph on every level, lot least in the way the percussion is integrated into the sound world, which neither of the other recordings seem to get quite right. That two note refrain in the last movement, played on tuned bells in, takes on a burnished weight that lingers long after the music stops. While all three recordings are more than worthwhile, it's to the Lorelei's version that I will be returning most often.

Michael Hersch - I hope we get a chance to visit soon There's so much positivity around "fighting cancer" in American culture that it is unexpectedly satisfying to hear it addressed as being as awful as it really is. Which is exactly what Hersch does in this painfully searing and intense work. Drawing on letters between him and his friend Mary Harris O’Reilly, some written while they were both being treated for cancer, and weaving in poems by Rachel Elson, the piece is as unflinching in its text as it is in its scoring. The music, is sharp and fragmentary, sometimes adjacent to the words and sometimes acting as an anguished Greek chorus. Hersch's mastery begins with his conception, which is scored for two sopranos (Ah Young Hong and Kiera Duffy, both outstanding), with one singing the poems and the other speaking the letters in a halting and slightly horrified tone that perfectly captures the way the mind protests the mere fact that you've been diagnosed with cancer. Like all of Hersch's work, I hope... is a very serious work of art, but the dignity and compassion he brings to this lacerating material elevates it to a point where anyone who has suffered loss in their lives (which is everyone, right) will ultimately find it a balm for their wounded soul. We owe Hersch a debt of gratitude for never turning away from subject matter that would make other artists uncomfortable. Kudos, too to the Musicians of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Tito Muñoz, who find the perfect emotional balance between restraint and rage in this beautifully recorded live performance.

Sarah Kirkland Snider - Mass For The Endangered While at first this felt a bit traditional for my taste, it is so sincere and eloquent in its absorption of the great masses of the past by Bach, Palestrina, etc. - and so sheerly gorgeous - that it is undeniably uplifting. The text is by Nathaniel Bellows, the poet, musician, and artist (he also did the album cover art) with whom Snider worked on her lush and dramatic song cycle Unremembered, which was released in 2015. The "endangered" in the title is all the flora and fauna put at risk by human activities, and the mass appeals, in Snider's words, "...to a higher power--for mercy, forgiveness, and intervention--but that appeal is directed not to God but rather to Nature itself." But even without those details, the sublime counterpoint and expert architecture, all perfectly executed by Gallicantus, an English ensemble conducted by Gabriel Crouch, would be enough to reward full immersion in the piece. May it be performed in many houses of worship - and elsewhere - when in-person gatherings are again safe and people themselves no longer feel endangered.

Miyamoto Is Black Enough - Burn / Build This incendiary album comes on with such elemental force that at first I was repelled. But upon revisiting, I leant into the heat and let it cleanse me. Catharsis. It also helped that as I was trying to grasp what was going on, I made the connection between Roger Bonair Agard's vocal approach and that of the great Linton Kwesi Johnson (whose Bass Culture celebrated its 40th anniversary earlier this year). Both are poets of Caribbean origin who worked in spoken word before combining their talents with music. Agard also has a little of Johnson's quality of rage - restrained, vaguely amused, but ready to explode if just one more ember lands on him. The musical backing is quite different from the roots reggae Johnson employed, however, which also stopped me in my tracks. Centered around Andy Akiho's steel pans and Jeffrey Zeigler's cello, and anchored by Sean Dixon's drums, bass, and electronics, it references reggae and hip hop, but is also angular and post-punk, ending up sounding like nothing else. The subject matter, including songs about Blackness and gentrification, is firmly on the pulse of our moment and served up with the immediacy of a status update yet with the craft only a true poet can deliver. If you're curious about the name they chose for the group, Google "Ariana Miyamoto" - but whatever you do, don't miss this album.

Missy Mazzoli - Proving Up While I've seen parts of Mazzoli's first opera, Song From The Uproar, I've managed to miss both of her other collaborations with librettist Royce Vavrek, Breaking The Waves and Proving Up. Fortunately, we now have a complete recording of the latter, and it is a revelation. A compelling exposé of the lie behind the American dream told through the stories of Nebraskan homesteaders in the 19th century, it puts many of Mazzoli's virtues on display - the forward motion, the sleek embrace of darkness - while foregrounding some new ones. As much of her music as I've heard in the last eight years, I was not prepared for something that was as utterly American as Aaron Copland and as cannily theatrical as Benjamin Britten. I'm sure Vavrek helped with the latter, but without the libretto in front of me (or performers on a stage, for that matter), I'm enjoying it mostly as a musical experience with a strong narrative thrust. While the baritone of John Moore is a standout, the singing is uniformly fantastic, as is the playing by members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, ably conducted by Christopher Rountree. Proving Up is easily the best new opera I've heard in years and further proof of Mazzoli's mastery. Hope we get a recording of Breaking The Waves soon.

Du Yun - A Cockroach's Tarantella We hear a lot about "resilience" in these quarentimes, and there is no better symbol of resilience than the lowly cockroach, a survivor's survivor for over 350 million years. In this piece, which Du Yun completed a decade ago, the wonderfully imaginative composer goes Kafka one better, arriving at a complete mind meld with the titular insect. And her roach is a true individualist, sick of lugging around her eggs and longing for human emotions. For all the times when our feelings are a burden, consider seeing 20 of your children exterminated and not being able to feel anything. Du Yun, as committed a performer as she is a composer, delivers the roach's tale in a tart, conversational fashion, in both English and Chinese, not overselling the fantastical nature of the piece. If this all sounds a bit abstract to you, get a gander at Julian Crouch's wondrous short film, and all will become clear.

In this recording, miraculously made just a month or two ago, Du Yun is given the perfect accompaniment by the JACK Quartet, who navigate the dynamics of the piece perfectly. They also shine on Tattooed On Snow, a 15-minute piece for string quartet from 2014 getting its first recording here. It has a cinematic sweep and no small amount of insectile sounds of its own, making for a compact introduction to Du Yun's sound world. The album is bookended by two short pieces,  Epilogue and Prologue (in that order), with the former featuring field recordings from Wuhan's market just after the lockdown was lifted. While the subjects of alienation and feeling uncomfortable in one's own skin are evergreen, this is an album that will help us locate what it meant to human in 2020. 

Listen to selections from these albums in this playlist or below.



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BLK JKS R BK

We had plans in 2020, didn't we? One of my plans, before the virus laughed in my face, was to feel my way into being a concert promoter, having often dreamed of seeing "AnEarful Presents" on a flyer for a concert by one or more of my favorite artists. Then I heard BLK JKS, the South African band whose After Robots was my #1 record of 2009, was planning a return to full activity after a quiet decade, and I started to imagine possibilities. When they announced their return to SXSW on IG, I put in a comment to the effect of, "How about New York?" This led to an email exchange and to me putting on my event planner's hat and sending out emails to venues, one of which responded eagerly. 

While the finances were somewhat in question, amazingly enough it looked like this could actually happen. The venue was on board, BLK JKS were on board, we had a date that fit with their Austin, TX travel plans, and my excitement was building. We all know what happened next: the cancellation of SXSW and then the complete shutdown of concerts everywhere, not to mention the limitations placed on international travel. The band must have been even more devastated than I was, but there was still a new album to look forward to, right? Well, yes and no. Deciding to reset their trajectory, BLK JKS started planning for SXSW 2021, also postponing the wide release of Abantu/Before Humans to coincide with those critical concert appearances. I say "wide release" because they did announce a vinyl-only release in South Africa but also available via mail order. After Googling the exchange rate for Rands (380R = $22.15USD), I clicked submit. And waited. 

When the package finally arrived, I celebrated the occasion with a slightly giddy unboxing video and then set out to listen. The handsome package, including vinyl in an otherworldly blend of green and black, also indicated that the trio of Mpumelelo Mcata (guitar), Molefi Makananise (bass), and Tshepang Ramoba (drums), who founded the band with Linda Buthlezi, remain, joined by trumpeter Tebogo Seitei and a variety of guests. But the first thing to know about Abantu/Before Humans is that it is ambitious, and seems to draw on a larger vision. There's a hint of this in the album's subtitle: "A complete fully translated and transcribed Obsidian Rock Audio Anthology chronicling the ancient spiritual technologies and exploits of pre-historic, post-revolutionary afro bionics and sacred texts from The Great Book On Arcanum by Supernal 5th Dimension Bound 3rd Dynasty young Kushites from Azania." 

There's at least a dozen rabbit holes to explore in that sentence, but a quick look tells me that Azania was the name the Romans used for southeastern Africa at least as early as the first century, AD. The name was revived by the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania when its founders split from the African National Congress in 1959. Kush was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, whose capital was known by the Greeks as Aethiopia. This makes me think of the "Ancient to the Future" philosophy of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, as well as any number of Afrofuturist works by Sun Ra, P-Funk, or Samuel R. Delaney. So far, so up my alley. But what stories would the needle tell when dropped into the groove? 

Yela Oh! begins the album with with a hypnotic ostinato bass and ritual chanting, drums burbling underneath. After an ominous riff, Running - Asibaleki/Sheroes Theme explodes into THAT sound, busy drums, soaring horns, bass driving ever onward. Unlike the songs on After Robots, however, all reverb and haze (wonderful as it was) has been stripped away, leaving an attack that is crisp, precise, and lethal. iQ(w)ira - Machine Learning Vol 1 is a slow burn, almost acting as a prelude for Mme Kelapile, an epic that expands from minimalistic to anthemic, then back again, with the drums growing more expressive, with Ramoba edging into "Steve Gadd on Aja" territory. Side One ends with Harare, which was released in 2019 and features BLK JKS protege, Morena Leraba on vocals. Cannily combining folk, rock, and hip hop, it ends up feeling almost like a pop song, but that might be the familiarity talking.

Side Two begins somberly with Human Hearts, arpeggiating guitars combining with a gorgeous horn arrangement. You can almost imagine an alternate timeline where Bob Marley takes the stage to its dignified strains. Next comes Yoyo! - The Mandela Effect/Black Aurora Cusp Druids Ascending, the one stumble on this magnificent album. It's just overstuffed, it's punky rage party coming across as ill-fitting and cliched lyrics such as "Treat me like a yoyo, make me go up and down," don't help, nor does the clinical production, which is so effective elsewhere. Fortunately, Maiga Malie Mansa Musa, which has special guests Vieux Farka Touré and Money Mark, puts us solidly back in BLK JKS's sweet spot. It opens like a folk song, but it's mournful horns are soon joined by an insistent post-punk bass line, eventually merging seamlessly into Mmao Wa Tseba - Nare/Indaba My Children, which crosses over into spiritual jazz with some wonderful tenor sax. The last section ends the album in a sound collage of field recordings - we hear the cheery sound of an ice cream truck and children at play with the muted sound of the band in the background. 

Abantu/Before Humans is a fascinating new chapter in the tale of BLK JKS and an album that is already an essential part of my year. I hope it gains the audience it deserves when it hits wide release in 2021 and that New Yorkers will have an opportunity to see them in concert before or after SXSW. But mostly I hope I don't have to wait 11 years for more of this powerful, mysterious, and utterly original music. There is only one BLK JKS - ignoring them would be like letting an entire genre of music pass below your radar. Don't let that happen. 

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Movie Night: Blasts From The Past

We can't go to movies. We can't go to concerts. We can't even invite that loquacious and knowledgeable friend over to sit on the couch with us and watch something. We also might spend more time scrolling through choices on Netflix and Amazon and Hulu and Apple TV+ than we do actually watching anything! I am here to propose at least two solutions to these problems, which though decidedly "first world," are definitely having an impact on people's coping skills as we live through these perilous times. If you have the ability to play Blu-ray discs, here are two cracking suggestions to get under the laser ASAP.

Go Go Mania AKA Pop Gear (1965) This collection of colorful clips is a visual hit parade direct from the British airwaves of (mostly) 1964 to your living room. Don't get too, too excited, however, as that timeframe puts us just on the cusp of the revolution started by The Beatles. So bands like The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, or The Zombies are nowhere to be seen. But besides the opening and closing clips of The Beatles playing She Loves You and Twist And Shout from their 1963 Royal Command Performance, these are all studio clips shot in eye-popping colors by world-class cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth (2001, Cabaret), so even the duff acts look spectacular in this spiffed up edition from Kino Lorber. Their fine work also makes those Beatles clips practically leap off the screen, with the Fabs locked in the groove heard around the world, Ringo swinging like a sledgehammer.

Besides the remastered visuals, Kino Lorber has also invited entertainment journalist Bryan Reesman and songwriter/journalist Jeff Slate to provide audio commentary, to which I highly recommend listening after your first pass at the flick. While I wasn't always sure which one of them was speaking, it's a great conversation - they both know their stuff and point out a wealth of fascinating details.

Beyond The Beatles, the rest of the "performances" - they're all mimed - are of a highly variable quality. Here are notes from me along with some tidbits I picked up from Reesman and Slate (R&S).

Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas: Despite their connections with Lennon & McCartney, they still sound like the saccharine side of the 50’s, leading to a barely memorable appearance here. Slate has met Kramer, however, and asserts he is a true Liverpudlian wit.

Susan Maughan: I never heard of her or this song (Make Him Mine) but it’s pre-Fabs fluff. The set is awesome, even if it looks like it cost 10 pounds 5. R&S confirm that she never made an impression in the U.S. as she was too traditional ("We already had Doris Day.").

The Four Pennies: Their first song, Juliet, is sappy sappy sappy! They redeem themselves later with a fairly blistering version of Leadbelly's Black Girl, which you likely know from Nirvana's Unplugged In New York as In The Pines. R&S point out that they did write their own material, still a rarity back then. They also note how they weren't camera savvy, something which was also far from a given back then.

The Animals: They MEAN IT, even though they’re lip-syncing The House Of The Rising Sun, and Burdon plays to the camera like a natural actor. Camera blocking is also fantastic. When they return later on to play Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, it's a great relief after all the pap in between their performances. Slate has also met Burdon and affirms he's still an archetypal rock & roll bad boy.

The Fourmost: They at least sound post-Beatles but bubblegum and undistinguished. R&S explain they were a Merseybeat band managed by Brian Epstein, as were several of the acts in Go Go Mania.

The Rockin’ Berries: He's In Town is a decent Goffin/King song, with a folk influence and interesting arrangement by these guys - worthy of investigation. R&S also note how gorgeous their instruments are, all American, which were expensive and hard to get in the U.K. in those days.

The Honeycombs: Have I The Right is not a great song and their singer is irritating, but look! A female drummer: Honey Lantry, who looks like she can really play. All the boys are playing exotic and beautiful Burns guitars and basses, a feast for the gear-head's eye. I wonder if they had a sponsorship deal? The second song, Eyes, is truly terrible. R&S relate that they were a Joe Meek project, which at least adds interest to the sonics. Can't save those songs, though.

Sounds Incorporated: Rinky Dink is an apt name for the first song played by this Bar-Kays rip-off that not only lacks soul but is smug AF. R&S fill in the picture - Epstein-managed, they were the warm-up act for The Beatles around the world.

Peter and Gordon: I haven't listened to these guys in years and just read an interview in Tape Op with Peter Asher so I was curious - and pleasantly surprised how good World Without Love is. Great set, like a thrift-store Calder. I needed R&S to remind me that it's a Lennon & McCartney gem, mostly cooked up by Paul while he was dating Peter's sister Jane.

Matt Monro: This Sinatra-lite seems out of place, but he gets nice scenery. Walk Away is not his best song, either - check out My Kind Of Girl, used so effectively on the Scandal soundtrack. Mama, his second song, at least has a haunting quality but it is unqualified dreck. By the time he returned to sing the Pop Gear theme song, I hit fast-forward - sorry, not sorry. R&S wisely framed his presence by explaining he could make mom & dad comfortable after sitting through all that teen pop. They also reveal that he recorded three albums in Spanish, which may be the most progressive thing he did in his career.

Herman’s Hermits: At least I'm Into Something Good (another Goffin/King number) is catchy, making it stand out amongst much else here. Peter Noone was a good frontman but his teeth looked way better when I met him in a photo studio in the late 80's.

Tommy Quickly and the Remo Four: This tune, based on nursery rhymes, is an insult to audiences then and now. R&S have some interesting backstory but somehow fail to mention how godawful it is.

Billie Davis: She's quite mesmerizing, with a distinctive voice, well matched to Whatcha Gonna Do, the bluesy song she does here. Turns out she was a fashion icon as well.

The Spencer Davis Group: It's practically a cliché to say this, but when "Stevie" Winwood, all of 15 years old, opens up those pipes - WOW. As R&S point out, you can hear the future of the 60's a bit with these guys.

Nashville Teens: Immediately distinguished by a great rhythm section, this is a banging take on Tobacco Road, a very old song. I immediately wanted to hear more, then they returned with the lousy Google Eye. R&S give some interesting details on their career backing up legends of early rock & roll, from Jerry Lewis to Chuck Berry. They definitely had the chops.

There are also two dance sequences that are quite cringe-inducing if amusing in an Austin Powers-esque way. Worst of all is the presence of known pedophile and sex abuser, Jimmy Savile, who serves as master of ceremonies. Even if he didn't turn out to be a truly venal man, he's a bizarre presence.

Reesman and Slate fill out their chat with some fun riffing on The Eagles representing the death of rock and roll and a shout out to director Frederic Goode, who pulled this whole thing together on likely a shoestring budget. One of them also has a fine last word by stating, “This is what MTV was going to become, which is remarkable when you think of it.” Indeed - and a fun watch, but you'll probably skip through to the good stuff if you watch it again without the commentary.

That'll Be The Day (1973) I've long heard of this movie, starring David Essex (of Rock On fame) and Ringo Starr, but this was my first viewing. It's a knockout, sort of a blend of British kitchen sink drama (Billy Liar, etc.) and American Graffiti. Essex gives an understated performance, often pictured as an observer of the societal changes happening as the 50's came to a close. Ringo is even better, completely convincing as a carnival tough who shows Essex's character the ropes, including how to scam patrons of the bumper car ride where they work, which later has disastrous consequences. After a few minutes of Ringo's performance I pretty much forgot he was one of the most famous musicians in the world and just got into the character. Rosemary Leach, in her film debut, is also terrific. It's a quietly tough film, with fine direction from Claude Whatham and great cinematography from Peter Suschitzky, who later shot The Empire Strikes Back. I was absorbed completely in the drama, which had the ring of truth and the archetypal resonance of fable.

Kino Lorber's restoration is again beautifully done, although the sound is not as strong as the visuals. Reesman also gives a commentary track on the Blu-ray of That'll Be The Day, this time solo. While he talks very quickly, especially at the beginning, he is full of intriguing background, from the film being partially inspired by Harry Nilsson's 1941, to the history of the Isle of Wight and other locations, and on to pocket biographies of the main players. He puts the film in the context of the "20-year itch of pop culture nostalgia," cogently explaining the differences between the exuberant, almost cartoonish American take on the 50's (Grease, Sha-Na-Na) and this more downbeat approach. I certainly hope Kino Lorber brings him back should they decide to reissue the sequel, Stardust.

So, there you have it: the real 60's and the reimagined 50's, each providing a fine escape hatch from 2020.

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Record Roundup: Unclassifiable

"The classical period is certainly, visually, one that is very structured, with gilded moldings and perfection naturally associated with that - and we need to totally get rid of that. So even as fundamental as the language,  not calling it "classical music" and then "other music" or "classical" and then "world music," which is the most ridiculous distinction you could possibly have. Just very much with language, what are we including as being representative of the community...it's "common music" or "music of the people" that we present, as opposed to classical music as a thing. So trying to think at the root what we are trying to classify as a representative art form of the people, which is how classical music started, by being popular music of the people, right?" - Ashleigh Gordon, co-founder, Artistic and Executive Director, and violist of Castle of our Skins on Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness.

Just leaving that there, knowing that Gordon is speaking mostly about the efforts of Castle of our Skins to make visible the work of Black creators, who are only minimally represented below. I'll also say that I use genre terms to help readers find their way to the music they want to hear most quickly, recognizing that not everyone wants to listen to everything. If there's a better term than "classical" I am so ready to put it to work. That said, many of the records below mix and match genres and techniques so freely as to be essentially unclassifiable. Take the leap and listen even if you don't know exactly what to expect, beyond the impressions I can convey in a few brief words.

Wet Ink Ensemble - Glossolalia The latest grand statement from this band of experts gives an opportunity to focus on the compositional talents of two members, Alex Mincek and Sam Pluta, both of whom put their colleagues through some extraordinary paces. Whether it's the power and precision of percussionist Ian Antonio in the Isonomy movement of Mincek's title work and the On/Off section of Pluta's Lines On Black, or Kate Soper's searing vocals in Pluta's Lines On Black, everyone burns bright. There's also a great deal of wit here, as in Duo, which opens the Pluta piece, with the interplay between Erin Lesser's flute and Josh Modney's violin even recalling some of Ennio Morricone's wilder moments, all puffs and pops, swoops and glides. Cycle, the fifth part of Lines On Black, could even be the soundtrack to a particularly abstract - and very kinetic - video game. Any one section of either of these major works of ultra-modern chamber music could serve as a calling card for the ensemble, the players, and the composers. Taken as a whole, the 65-minute album is a nearly overwhelming infusion of pure creativity.

Jobina Tinnemans - Five Thoughts On Everything Wildly inventive stuff from a Dutch-born composer who seems to resonate with some of the directions coming out of Iceland over the last decade or two. In fact, the second piece, Djúpalónsdóttir & Hellnarsson, features recordings of the South Iceland Chamber Choir in those two locations (along with some seagulls), with Tinnemans then bending their singing to her will for a dislocating experience of another kind of glossolalia. The Shape Of Things Aquatic alternates field recordings of a Welsh coastline and and Icelandic waterfall for a sort of mental vacation. Most fun of all is Varèsotto, Hinterland of Varèse, commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Edgard Varèse's Poeme Electronique. The great man himself would likely enjoy this  funhouse of synthesizers, bird calls, and manipulated vocals. Perhaps most important, however, is the firm hand Tinnemans keeps on the tiller as she pulls you through nearly uncharted territories, following tributaries from the 20th century's avant garde to their natural conclusions.

Amanda Gookin - Forward Music 1.0 Upon first listen, Nathalie Joachim's Dam mwen yo ("my ladies"), which opens this debut album, almost felt too familiar, yet another combination of cello, voice, and loops, but I stuck with it and soon became hypnotized by the textures and metronomic rhythm. Stolen, by Allison Loggins-Hull, comes next and gives you full immersion into Gookin's wondrous tone, which is then taken into twilight territory by Angelica Negron's electronics in her Las Desaparecidas. Both works take inspiration from tales of human trafficking, lending their restraint even more elemental power. Gookin commissioned all seven pieces here from female composers at various stages in their careers each with their own approach to themes around the power, challenges and pain of women in the world today. The final piece, Jessica Meyer's Swerve, brings joy and lyricism into the equation, a perfect send-off perfectly played by Gookin. Rest assured that everything here exists on a level of glorious musicality, with access to the artists' intentions not a requirement for listening. But once you know, you will be even more floored by what Gookin has achieved here. You'll also be on high alert for recordings of works commissioned for Forward Music 2.0, which premiered last year, and 3.0, set to be performed at National Sawdust on November 1.

Ning Yu - Of Being The three pieces here, by Wang Lu, Misato Mochizuki, and Emily Praetorius, were all written for Ning over the last two decades and get first recordings on this debut solo album from one of the pianists in Yarn/Wire. The compositions are full of drama and intrigue, but it's the title track, by Praetorius, that hangs in the air long after it ends. Made up of fragments and silences, it constantly threatens to coalesce into something you can grasp - but then it slips through your fingers again, demanding further listening. Ning's playing throughout is as lethally elegant as the album's design, making this one of the finest piano albums of the year so far.

Andy Kozar - A Few Kites Trumpeters around the world owe Kozar, also a member of loadbang, a debt of gratitude for commissioning ten count'em TEN terrific new pieces for trumpet and electronics. Kozar and his collaborators push the trumpet into realms of expressiveness not heard since Luciano Berio turned his attention to the instrument in 1984 for Sequenza X. Whether it's the first movement of Ken Ueno's Quentin, which literally deconstructs the trumpet, or Blister by Quinn Collins and on the imagined relations of night sounds (and silent darkness) by Paula Matthusen, both of which use field recordings and found sounds to interact with Kozar's gleaming tones, the variety here is simply astonishing. It's a well-sequenced album, too, reaching a perfect conclusion with Eva Beglarian's ruminative Osculati Fourniture, its use of modes from Persian classical music giving it a quality both ancient and modern. Let's hope other trumpeters pick up Kozar's torch and put these pieces into concert halls as soon as we're able to gather for live music again.

Dai Fujikura - Turtle Totem This expansive collection puts Fujikura's expertise in nearly every setting - from chamber to orchestral - on full display. Each piece is so assured, with architecturally solid structures, inventive melodies, and innovative instrumental approaches, that he makes everything sound fresh. Even something as hoary as the horn concerto gets a new injection of life from Fujikura's dedication to never taking the easy way out. The first piece, THREE, for trumpet, trombone, and electric guitar, is also a lot of fun, with Fujikura reveling in the sonic possibilities of each instrument. It was commissioned by Ensemble Three, an Australian group whose work I'm now looking forward to exploring. His hand is also sure when it comes to electronics, as on Obi, where he samples the sound of the sho, a traditional Japanese mouth organ played by Tamami Tono, creating drones and echoes to accompany the instrument. A quick look at his discography finds that Fujikura is remarkably prolific as well. Start here and then dig further into what's sure to be a rich seam of music driven by emotion and skill.

Collage Project - Off Brand Dan Lippel never ceases to amaze me. Even as he tirelessly enriches the musical universe with his work for New Focus Recordings, he finds time to make music as fantastic as this album, a collaboration with old friends, Aidan Plank (bass) and Dan Bruce (electric guitar), and guests. From the first track I knew Off Brand would be essential listening for any fans of Nels Cline, Bill Frisell, or others exploring Venn diagrams where jazz, prog-rock, and classical meet and meld. Lippel's For Manny combines his tart and swinging nylon string acoustic with Bruce's fiery electric, driven hard by Nathan Douds' splashy drums. It's a knockout, and the rest of the album, whether improvised or composed, remains at that high level while exploring different moods with an overall lightness of touch that's very inviting. All the playing is great, but Off Brand is especially a feast for lovers of the guitar in all its multifarious incarnations.

Matteo Liberatore - Gran Sasso Speaking of feasts for guitar fans, Liberatore's second solo album is made up of a single 20-minute piece that finds him dishing out a kaleidoscopic array of techniques. Virtuosic, yes, but all in the service of a melodic narrative at times reminiscent of Nino Rota's work for Fellini films and just as delightful. The title refers to the largest mountain in the Apennines, in central Italy, but Liberatore's piece is more like an absorbing walk in the forest rather than a difficult ascent - and it's a journey you'll want to take often.

Sreym Hctim - Turn Tail Perhaps most unclassifiable of all are the five surrealist sound collages on this second album from "Sreym." In fact, this stuff could almost be the endpoint of all music, period. Once the boundaries between sound, song, style, emotion, structure, and sensibility have been erased, it might sound like the work of Mitch Myers (read it backwards). While much of what Myers is doing here is wildly original, it does rhyme with some things from the past, such as Pere Ubu's Dub Housing or New Picnic Time, if you removed all song form, or Varèse's Poeme Electronique, if it had been made by a digital native rather than a pioneer of magnetic tape composition. But as Varèse himself famously said, "I experiment before I make the music," and one thing that makes these pieces work is Myers absolute confidence in his process. Give yourself over to it and you will likely follow my lead and order the expanded edition. Released on cassette, it includes a live set performed on WNYU, which even shows Myers weaving in strains of Top 40 pop and avant R&B. Get to Turn Tail to get on the pulse of what comes after what comes next.

Find samples from all these albums in this playlist - and remember, since the concert industry is shut down right now, consider buying anything you love to help support the composers, performers, and labels that make all of this magic happen.

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Best Of 2020 (So Far)

Typically, the way I make these lists is by scanning through my posts from the year, looking at Spotify playlists, and then dragging songs or pieces into a draft playlist. If it's more than 25 tracks long, I begin the process of narrowing it down. The main criteria is not "excellence," as that's where I focus my listening and my writing, but rather more a question of survival. To what music am I cleaving in order to get through the year? In times of strife, which is a polite way of describing the shit-show garbage fire that is 2020, many turn to the music of old and I have certainly spent some time with Bowie, The Beatles, Bob Marley, and Young Marble Giants, among others. But I have this engine inside that propels me towards the new and this year has been as generous as any in that regard. I am at a loss for words to describe the appreciation I feel toward any artist who has pushed past inertia and given us sounds that nourish us. Some of them are listed below. P.S. As usual, if I've covered the album before, just click on the title for more information.

Listen as you read here or below!




1. Bob Dylan - Rough And Rowdy Ways There may yet be a shelf of books written on this almost overwhelming expression of creative fecundity. As Tim Sommer pointed out recently, the Never Ending Tour deserves its own place among Dylan's artistic achievements, but it should be noted that, like the three albums of Tin Pan Alley songs he's released since 2012's brilliant Tempest, that is an arena for interpretation rather than creation. So when he sings, "I'm falling in love with Calliope/She don't belong to anyone, why not give her to me?" in Mother Of Muses, you get a hint of the hunger he might have been feeling to get the plug back in the socket and start writing new songs. But who knows? There's a vagueness about when these songs were written or recorded. When he dropped Murder Most Foul back in April, catching the world by surprise, he coyly noted, "This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting." Coy, and the understatement of the year. These songs are all "interesting," at the very least, not to mention funny, smart, and displaying a full palette of emotions. They are also eminently quotable, from the ur-braggadocio of "I’m first among equals - second to none/I’m last of the best - you can bury the rest/Bury ‘em naked with their silver and gold/Put ‘em six feet under and then pray for their souls" (False Prophet) to the stark reality of "I can see the history of the whole human race/It’s all right there - its carved into your face" (My Own Version Of You), but while this is a wordy album, the sound of it is just as notable. Unlike Tempest, with its lapidary attention to each instrument, Dylan's production this time around often turns the band into a single unit, either dealing out blues riffs so elemental as to be platonic or creating a tapestry of delicate tones and textures, creating the perfect backdrop for his singing. And what singing, displaying nuance or power as appropriate and able to convey wit or heartbreak with masterful subtlety. Just listen to the way he caresses the words and toys with the tempo when he sings "A lotta people gone/A lotta people I knew" in I've Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You, one magical moment among many on this album. Even if Dylan weren't DYLAN, Rough And Rowdy Ways would demand your attention - but only Dylan could have made it.

2. Bonny Light Horseman - Bonny Light Horseman

3. Molly Joyce - Breaking And Entering

4. Jonathan Wilson - Dixie Blur

5. Ted Hearne & Saul Williams - Place

6. Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo After last year's triumphant Bandana, I would have forgiven Gibbs for taking the year off. But he's a man on a mission, so there was no time to wait. After working with Madlib, almost any other producer would have been a comedown, but The Alchemist is fully up to the challenge of goading Gibbs to new heights. The results never fail to entertain or inspire, with the latter best represented by the most apropos lines of the year: "The revolution is the genocide/Yeah, my execution might be televised" - words being worn right now on a t-shirt at a protest near you. Gibbs once more defines the moment and it is highly unlikely there will be a better hip hop album in 2020. Maybe he should square off with Dylan and let the sparks fly!

7. Hamilton Leithauser - The Loves Of Your Life See also his charming Tiny Desk Concert.

8. Matt Evans - New Topographics

9. Ocean Music - Morsels

10. Miro Shot - Content

11. Yaeji - What We Drew

12. Jay Electronica - A Written Testament

13. Makaya McCraven and Gil Scott-Heron - We're New Again: A Reimagining

14. Nnux - Ciudad

15. Aoife Nessa Frances - Land Of No Junction

16. Car Seat Headrest - Making A Door Less Open

17. Frazey Ford - U Kin B The Sun

18. The Strokes - The New Abnormal

19. Tak Ensemble - Scott L. Miller: Ghost Layers

20. Wire - Mind Hive See also 10:20, a brilliant collection of strays and older songs reimagined.

21. John Craigie - Asterisk The Universe This is primo Americana and Craigie's most assured and varied album yet. It's his ninth studio album but don't feel bad if you never heard of him - I was in the same boat, a situation I detail in my interview with Craigie in Rock & Roll Globe. It's a rich catalog, too, but the smoky production, warmly cohesive band, and sharp songwriting here should put him in front of an even bigger audience. 

22. Honey Cutt - Coasting

23. Soccer Mommy - Color Theory

24. Them Airs - Union Suit XL I was pointed towards these New Haven art punks by Tracy Wilson's Turntable Report, which has quickly become an essential filter. Led by Cade Williams, Them Airs' website is a delightful trip into their aesthetic, including a highly editorialized list of all their gear. With their own liner notes referencing both Wire and "spicy no wave sax," you should be aware of what you're in for on this spiky blast of irreverent fun. Though they've been recording since 2017 and playing out since 2018, they have yet to play in NYC. I hope to be there when it happens!

25. Nadia Reid - Out Of My Province

What's been in heaviest rotation in your shelter?

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2014: Mid-Year Report
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Record Roundup: Machine Learning

Here are three albums that combine the organic with the synthetic in such an integrated way that such a divide becomes irrelevant. The end result is music that is deeply human.

Molly Joyce - Breaking and Entering There is a lot to explore in the background to Joyce's debut album, mostly around her use of electric toy organs, which allow her left hand, disabled in a childhood car accident, to participate fully by pressing the chord buttons. And it is remarkable and inspiring stuff about turning your weaknesses into strengths and providing uplift to those who doubt their own ability to move beyond obstacles imposed from within and without. Joyce covers some of this ground in her interview with Frank J. Oteri earlier this year and in her TEDxMidAtlantic talk from 2017, which is when she first came to my attention with Lean Back and Release, an EP of two brief works for violin and electronics.

But none of that prepared me for what this brilliant album would sound like, or how it would make me feel. Unlike that earlier release, which featured her as a composer, Breaking and Entering is a startling introduction to Joyce as a performing artist, with her clear, unwavering soprano soaring over the sparkling, propulsive patterns of organs and a halo of electronics. The emotional impact has me reaching for comparisons as varied as the ancient incantations of Hildegard von Bingen, the proto-New Age of Popol Vuh, and on to the gleaming optimism of futurists like Franco Falsini, who recorded under the name Sensation's Fix in the 1970's.

A song like Form and Flee manages to be simultaneously meditative, hypnotic, and energizing, putting wind in your hair as you pirouette through the ether in imagined flight. The lyrics, as in this example from Body and Being, wisely straddle the personal and universal: "are you the soul of me/or the disgrace of me/are you the whole of me/or the reject from me." After all, each of us have our battles over the divide between our physical selves and the world of our mind and perceptions.

While Lean Back and Release was firmly in the realm of what is usually called "contemporary classical," Breaking and Entering overleaps silos and should make inroads deep into the hearts and minds of fans of dream pop, chill wave, ambient techno, synth pop, Krautrock, Euro-disco, or genre-defying artists like Micheal Hammond of No Lands, who produced and engineered the album. I can't say enough about how great this is and will leave you with one caveat: prepare to be obsessed. Note: Deepen the experience by joining the virtual album release party on June 26th.

Miro Shot - Content Arising from the ashes of my beloved Breton, this collective led by singer/songwriter/arranger/futurist Roman Rappak began releasing singles last year, assembled on the Servers EP, while also pushing forward a vision of applying VR and AR to the concert experience. Now comes their debut album, which expands on those earlier songs, combining electronics, orchestrations, a tough rhythm section, and Rappak's trademark vocals, alternately wry and bruised. While the lyrics question much of what Hoovers up the collective attention of the world at this moment, they are unafraid to aim straight for the gut with big choruses and bridges that kickstart songs into overdrive.

The visuals are just as addictive, all quick cuts, high-tech overlays, and clever juxtapositions. In future decades they will become essential chronicles of the way we live now, while still remaining ever-fresh through sheer force of artistic will. The same can be said of the album, which is resolutely up to the minute and deeply informed by the past, seeming to exist in its own time-space continuum. While the current crisis means we'll have to wait even longer for the concert experience, you can grab a taste in their live sessions for Radio X and sign up for a date on their Virtual Worlds tour - or all four. While new restrictions on our lives seem to be imposed daily, some limits are a thing of the past. And Miro Shot has the perfect content with which to celebrate that new kind of freedom.

Car Seat Headrest - Making A Door Less Open While Bowie going electronic didn't have the seismic impact of Dylan going electric, the aftershocks have been longer lasting. Example "A" for 2020 is this new album from Will Toledo's indie rock band, which only features guitar on four out of 10 tracks. One of those songs is the anti-anthem, Hollywood ("Hollywood makes me want to puke," etc.), which comes in on a guitar storm then settles into a chillier groove - but you know the storm will return. I can only imagine how captivating it will be in concert.

But many of these songs display Toledo's rock-solid song craft and could likely exist in any number of settings. Even so, it's a thrill to hear him push his vocal limits on a song like Hymn and fuck with the rhythms on Martin, shifting a classic CSH love song into stranger realms. When the synth/trumpet solo enters it feels even more blissful due to the contrast in moods and textures, further proof of the mastery of soundscaping on MADLO. Andrew Katz, drummer for CSH since 2014, has also been pursuing a "satirical EDM" project, 1Trait Danger, for a while and certainly deserves some credit for moving Toledo into new territory. When Bowie put out Low in 1977, he got some stick from the rock establishment and, likely, lost some fans. I hope that isn't the case with this one. But I think Toledo, like Bowie, is engaged in a continual quest to make the music that satisfies himself, a quest on which it is a privilege to tag along.

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Levitating With Car Seat Headrest

Black Voices Matter

For most of my life, I've used music as my voice when I was too shy to speak, whether it was finding community at shows or being welcomed at parties because I had a killer mixtape. Needless to say, a good portion of that music was created - or influenced - by Black musicians, songwriters, singers, and producers. I think about growing up with Stevie Wonder's Living For The City speaking truth from my AM radio - or waiting to hear Bad Luck by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes because of how it made me feel. Not to mention the Jackson 5, with their resident superstar who was just six years older than me! I think about my high school band, the Young Aborigines, and how we incorporated elements of salsa and dub into our weird art rock - and then danced our asses off to Thriller, Bob Marley's Uprising, and The Message after rehearsal. My gratitude for all that these artists have given me is humbling, especially considering the challenges and obstacles this country has thrown at Black people going back at least to 1619. 

Since launching AnEarful, I have used my voice to celebrate the greatest music of our time but today I am using it to say, unequivocally, Black Lives Matter. I stand in solidarity with the families of those, like George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, whose lives have been destroyed by racial violence. More power to all the protesters who have risked life and limb - not to mention their health in this time of COVID-19 - to amplify their voices and push for social change. It would be easy for me to assume that everyone is doing their part and already knows about the ways to support this movement. But just in case, here's a list of organizations I've supported or vetted who are all helping in their way. 

The Bail Project
Black Visions Collective
Black Youth Project 100
Campaign Zero
The George Floyd Memorial Fund
Know Your Rights Camp
Movement for Black Lives
Reclaim the Block
Southerners On New Ground

Also, since this is a music blog, I would like to encourage you to support organizations, like Black Art Futures or the others listed here, which help Black creators of all stripes. 

Naturally, another way to help is to buy music by Black musicians or from Black-owned labels. One of the best ways to do that is on Bandcamp, either today when many are waiving fees, passing on all funds to artists, or supporting organizations like those above, or on June 19th when Bandcamp will donate its share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. 

If you need suggestions, check out this mega-list of over 1,000 Black artists, producers and labels, or look for releases by Laraaji, Smoke DZA, or Beverly Glenn-Copeland, a Black trans man who is currently homeless, just to name a very few.

Black voices matter, too, and in the aftermath of last week's eruption, a number of songs have been swirling around my head, so much so that I decided to put them in a playlist because that's what I do. I hope you enjoy this mix of familiar and less well-known tracks that seem to speak to our current moment. 

Of Note In 2020: Rock, Folk, Etc.

This is the big one - 17 albums that go from gentle and introspective to aggressive and angular. Reviews will be short and to the point, just enough to get you to listen for yourselves. Find tracks from each of these in the 40 For 2020 playlist, alongside selections from recent pieces for Classical, Electronic, Hip Hop, and Jazz. The main playlist for Rock, Folk, Etc. has 10 hours of album tracks and singles and the year isn't even half over. Embrace the overwhelm!

Bonny Light Horseman - Bonny Light Horseman When singles started dropping from this project last year, I had a feeling the album would be one of the best of 2020. Thankfully, the trio of Anais Mitchell, Josh Kaufman, and Eric D. Johnson didn't let the quality slip over the 10 tracks on this remarkable album. As I said on my video review, these songs, some of them centuries old, sound both brand new and like instant old friends. Cameos from Justin Vernon and This Is The Kit only serve to up the level of indie-folk bliss. It was a constant listen when it came out in the halcyon days of January, making it sound only more otherworldly now. Expect it high on my best of the year list and many others.

Jonathan Wilson - Dixie Blur I went deep into the roots, process, and results of Wilson's latest brilliant collection in my article for Rock & Roll Globe - read that if you still haven't yet gotten on board. TL/DR: Some of Wilson's most personal songs yet, given the high-Americana treatment, including the incandescent fiddling of Mark O'Conner and key contributions from Wilco's Pat Sansone, who also co-produces.

Nadia Reid - Out Of My Province Reid has one of those voices that, when you see her live, you can barely believe is emitting, seemingly without effort, from the human being standing in front of you. It's the perfect vehicle for her literate yet raw songs of love, loss, and the aching moments in between. For her first album made outside her native New Zealand, she went to Spacebomb, Matthew E. White's nexus of cosmic American music and it proves to be a heavenly collaboration, with their smart yet soulful horns and strings limning Reid's glorious songs with a warm glow. She may be far from her province, but she sounds right at home.

Aoife Nessa Frances - Land Of No Junction I'd been wondering what became of Cian Nugent since he released Night Fiction in 2016 (one of the best of that decade, donchaknow) when I spotted his name while scanning a Pitchfork newsletter that mentioned this album. It seems that he and Frances had been working on this wonderfully distinctive album for a while, and, besides further expanding our view of Nugent as a crafter of sound, it's a dreamy introduction to a singer-songwriter with a wonderfully hazy style. After a few listens, what at first seemed impossibly diaphanous, like chasing a butterfly's stardust trail, gradually reveals itself to be a deeply informed array of psych-folk gestures in song, all coming from a well of real feeling. Catch up with her solo performance from the Sea Change festival - one of the richest live-streams of the COVID-19 era - and the songs only uncover themselves further. Truly wondrous stuff.

Ocean Music x Jerome Ellis - Morsels After 2019's double-whammy of Troubadour No. 1 - best album of the year - and Fan Fiction For Planet Earth (also incredible) I would not have faulted Richard Aufrichtig for taking 2020 off. But the man is as prolific as he is talented so we have this interesting project, with short fragments of songs intended to be looped, along with a generous selection of bonus material from the Fan Fiction sessions. Even though I'm still waiting for my cassette, which has each fragment looped for 34 seconds, it still works on many levels, with moments of high drama or mellow contemplation each creating a complete universe in less than a minute. The extras, whether demos or b-sides, show off Aufrichtig's range in moving fashion - he's incapable of being insincere or anywhere else than rooted in the moment of his performances - rooted, but flying so free. Fly with him. P.S. I've heard some of his next album, too, and it will go as far, or further, than what we've already heard. Get a preview.

Frazey Ford - U Kin B The Sun I don't know what Vancouver native Ford has been up to in the six years since her last album, but it has done wonders for her art. This is her most direct, focused shot to the heart yet, and the sensitive soul cooked up by her collaborators carries each song like a perfect vessel - kudos to bassist Darren Parris and drummer Leon Power. Political, personal, or poetic, Ford is in rare form here, and now lands at the pinnacle of today's singer-songwriters. Perhaps its time for her to follow Nadia Reid (and Natalie Prass) to Spacebomb - could be mind-blowing!

Hamilton Leithauser - The Loves Of Your Life I don't want to belabor the point, but I really didn't like Leithauser's last album, a failure I lay at the feet of his collaborator, Rostam Batmanglij from the regrettable Vampire Weekend. As word started to trickle out about this album, I was riding a razor's edge, with anticipation and excitement on one side and protection against disappointment on the other. Well, I'm happy to report that, as the sporting announcers say, "It's IN and it's GOOD." Now, I don't want to say I told you so, but there's no question that the return of Paul Maroon to the fold (on six of 11 tracks) has helped bring out the best in Leithauser once more. Yet this is also Leithauser's most self-sufficient album so far - recorded, produced and mixed by him at his home studio, known as the "Struggle Hut," with many songs featuring him as the sole instrumentalist, playing everything from guitars, bass, and drums to glockenspiel and violin. The lyrics are all pithy portraits of various down and outers, a series of missed opportunities and self-inflicted wounds, all drawn with the compassion of a 19th-century novelist. Jeez, this guy is incredible, and I haven't even mentioned that indelible voice - lordy, can he sing. I've already pronounced Black Hours, his first solo album, one of the best of the 2010's - this one will certainly be in the running for the current era.

Honey Cutt - Coasting Led by Kaley Honeycutt, this trio sails in as a lighter-than-air confection of indie jangle with a little bit of quirk to add to the fun. There are moments, too, where the three of them take flight in a manner that suggests they are great live - one day I'll find out for myself. For now, I'll just revel in this delightful sophomore effort that feels very much like a debut.

Soccer Mommy - Color Theory I've kept an eye on Sophie Allison's project since inception, admiring more than loving her indie-rock for it's sheer minimalist competence. It was always an enjoyable listen, but never involving - until now. Color Theory has her slow burn catching complete fire as she opens up her emotional world and lets us in. The music is hotter, too, surrounding her crystalline voice with wraiths of guitar-haze, edging into psychedelia at times, keeping a protective distance from the pain at the core of many of these songs. Even though this is her second official album, it feels like I've met a brand-new artist. Welcome, Soccer Mommy, we've been waiting for you.

Squirrel Flower - I Was Born Swimming I read about Ella O'Conner Williams in Mojo where this was presented as a debut album - the marketing states the same. But a quick dig into Spotify reveals earlier albums, recorded solo, but with her shimmering guitar and gorgeous voice fully present. There's no question, however, that the band format serves her very well, especially with accompaniment this sensitive (including her father, Jesse Williams on bass) and that time has honed her songwriting to a fine point. Whether this is her first album or her third, it's just plain GREAT.

Dana Gavanski - Yesterday Is Gone There's a dignity and restraint to Gavanski's folk-rock that makes you lean in and listen closely. Apparently a late bloomer - she was originally pursuing film - these songs seem born of experience and a long apprenticeship. Already a fully formed artist, the possibilities for what she'll accomplish in the future are thrilling.

Ultraista - Sister Nigel Godrich is known for producing Radiohead, among many other bands, and playing in Thom Yorke side projects like Atoms For Piece. Drummer Joey Waronker, also an Atoms veteran, has played for Beck, Roger Waters, and more. With singer Laura Bettinson, they are Ultraista, and this sleekly propulsive electro-pop album is their second since 2012. Worth the wait, with tighter songwriting, deeper emotions, and the sense of great power held in abeyance. Best of all, it feels truly collaborative - there are no guns for hire in Ultraista, just talented musicians who have found common ground.

Wire - Mind Hive Was it just this year that these post-punk legends, over 40 years into their career, released one of their finest albums? Why yes, it was! Hope you didn't miss it as it gives all the many young bands who have been carrying the legacy forward a run for their collective money. From sleek yet barbed shots across the bow like Cactused to gently pulsing wonders like Unrepentant - as lovely as anything Cluster ever perpetrated - all of their virtues are on display. Long may they reign, etc., etc.

Porridge Radio - Every Bad There's a bit of post-punk in the DNA of this band, not only Wire but also The Raincoats, especially in the way singer-songwriter Dana Margolin wears her heart on her sleeve in a most relatable way. The lyrics are conversational ("And maybe I was born confused/And baby, I was born confused/So I don't know what's going on/Maybe nothing's going on" - Born Confused) but Margolin's use of repetition has a way of heightening the quotidian message, somewhat like The Courtneys did on their brilliant second album. It took them four years to follow up the charms of 2016's Rice, Pasta, and Other Fillers, and while the increase in craft is palpable, I hope we don't have to wait that long for more!

Dogleg - Melee This Michigan band also took four years between their debut and this album, making an even bigger leap in the process, going from a lo-fi solo project for main man Alex Stoitsiadis to a powerhouse trio (Chase Macinski - bass, backing vocals, Parker Grissom - drums, backing vocals) with an impressively massive sound. Even more impressive when you see the modest credit, "Recorded by Alex Stoitsiadis at home" - kid's got talent far beyond strumming and shouting, which he also does really well. Even at high tempos, Grissom finds the groove, and the addition of double bass, trumpet, and violin enlarges the sound further. Add the almost desperate passion of a young Paul Westerberg and you've got a Melee worth diving into.

The Strokes - The New Abnormal As I recently pointed out on an episode of Sound Opinions (they often take my calls, LOL), if you don't accept the fact that Angles is nearly as fantastic as Is This It?, you probably shouldn't be reviewing this album. Or even listening to it for that matter. But if you loved Angles, this will thrill you, with some of Julian Casablancas' most nakedly emotional writing and singing married to sleek yet engaged playing from the rest of the band. Often accused of being rock & roll scavengers, they cleverly spin gold out of rust by bolting together a bit of Modern English's Melt With You and a lot of Billy Idol's Dancing With Myself to arrive at Making Bad Decisions, an instant hit. But they also pursue newer sounds, such as the siren-like guitar and implacable drums of Eternal Summer or the synth-driven At The Door. A triumph for the band and for producer Rick Rubin. 

Lucinda Williams - Good Souls, Better Angels If there is one American musician still working today who has less to prove than Lucinda Williams - and who's not Bob Dylan - I'd like to hear about it. Even so, Williams and her main foil, guitarist Stuart Mathis, come ready to rumble on this, her 12th album of original material. Often using a variety of well-worn blues and Americana structures - but unafraid to invoke The Stooges and The Clash - and fueled by Williams' rage at our current situation, many of these songs reach their apotheosis when Mathis fires off a solo written in pure lightning. While Williams speaks for us in her dissection of the loathsome creature in the White House in Man Without A Soul, she also offers a bulwark against despair in a song like Big Black Train ("I can hear it comin' on down the track/And I don't wanna get onboard"). Williams is also wise enough to use metaphor and allusion to avoid creating songs with built-in expiration dates. Besides, there will always be something to be pissed off and sad about - Williams will have your back no matter what is going on in the headlines. And I can't imagine the catharsis - both on stage and in the crowd - when these songs are unleashed in concert. I hope to be there.

Hear more in the vein of these albums in my Of Note in 2020 (Rock, Folk, Etc.) playlist and make sure to follow it so you can keep up with the wonders yet to come.

 

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