All the People Who Died

Jim Carroll was a poet and rocker who penned a 1980 punk classic whose heartbreak was nearly disfigured by its thrash.  Carroll, now dead himself, recalled those lost too soon:

                  Those are people who died, died
                  They were all my friends and they died.

As I thought about this list of remembrances, Carroll's words made me aware of what's so sad about this list of those lost in 2016 -- these were all our friends.

David Bowie
1947-2016
Inexhaustible reinvention meant I didn't love it all, but the stuff that worked lasts.  And for me, "Ashes to Ashes" was his most enduring songcraft, fresh and surprising more than 25 years later.

Leonard Cohen
1934-2016
In 1967, "Songs of Leonard Cohen," scared the shit out of me and made we worry about the cousin who introduced it to me.  It was years before I found the savage beauty in Cohen's music, and when I did, I couldn't get enough of the poetry and salvation offered by songs like "Famous Blue Raincoat."

Glen Frey
1948-2016
I was not an Eagles fan, but 1975's "On the Border," was the soundtrack to a magical, hazy summer spent in the Rockies perched on the rim of adulthood.  "Lyin' Eyes" was its essence and it's Frey's signature sound.

Pfife Dawg (Malik Taylor)
1970-2016
Together with Q-Tip, Pfife created the sound of A Tribe Called Quest, brilliant rapping, inspired sampling and a fresh sense of humor that took hip-hip in a whole new direction in 1990.  "Can I Kick It" captures Pfife's genius.

Prince
1958-2016
One? I have to pick one from the guy who put on the best performance I have EVER seen?  Okay, then "Kiss."

Leon Russell
1942-2016
Like most of us, the sprawling 1970 mess of"Mad Dogs and Englishman" was my introduction to Russell even though he had played on dozens of hits I knew by heart.  I'm not going for the obvious here;  "Hummingbird" is my Russell favorite.

Maurice White
1941-2016
White, the frontman for Earth Wind & Fire, had initial success as the drummer for the Ramsey Lewis Trio ("The In Crowd," "Wade in the Water").   But for most of the '70's, EW&F with him at the helm was the sound of slick R&B at its zenith.  To this day, I wouldn't even think of having a party where I didn't play "September."

"Now cracks a noble heart.  Goodnight, sweet prince
and flights of angels sing thee to they rest"

Best Songs of 2016

Desperately seeking distraction in 2016, these songs were big league distractions.

Mac Miller, Dang -  With Anderson Paak.  Dang is right!

Young Gun Silver Fox, You Can Feel It - The sounds of Lite FM made new.

Solange, Cranes in the Sky - Break my heart, little sister.

Father John Misty, Real Love Baby - James Taylor, you're done.

Karl Blau, Fallin Rain - This Link Wray cover is spellbinding, even if every note in the melody is cribbed from Jimmy Webb.

exmagician, Place Your Bets - Maybe "ex-", but still working his magic.

Justin Jay, Let Go - Simmers, then boils.

Gabriel Garzon-Montano, The Game - Soul single of the year.

STRFKR, Never Ever - Putting this on the jukebox in my imaginary bar.

Jim James, The World's Smiling Now - This spooky track by MMJ frontman James is wicked good.

Beyonce, Daddy Lessons - C'mon, she kills it.

Cleopold, Not Coming Down - This song is why I listen to KCRW.

Yuck, As I Walk Away - The slow dance at the headbangers' ball.

Boxed In, Jist - Supercharged electropop

Rufus Du Sol, Say A Prayer for Me - I wore the hell out of this deep house keeper.

Drake (with Rhiana), Too Good - You knew I would love this one best of all.

P.S. - This works pretty well as a playlist, folks.

Best Albums of 2016

This year I stopped being the last man in America to buy music by the song and crossed over to streaming.  Duh.  My rate of music consumption increased dramatically and, with it, my rate of discovery.  The fruits are here on this year's longer list.

The Avalanches, Wildflower

Those crazy Australians were at it again after a 15-year absence from electronica, making irresistible music from samples and found sounds.  "Subways" will make clear why this was the trippiest music of the year.

Bibio, A Mineral Love

I listened to a lot of electronic music this year.  Nothing was as consistently satisfying as this disk. "Light Up the Sky" is its beautiful centerpiece.

Blood Orange, Freetown Sound

Michael Jackson's most brilliant heir was back with a more accessible follow-up to Cupid Deluxe.  Flawless neo-soul, this music lives in the world and aches for its brokenness. One word: "Augustine"

Black Marble, It's Immaterial

Imagine that New Order and the Cure are young again, or you are or I am, or something.  It's all so deliciously confusing when old pop sounds are new again.   Proof positive: "Iron Lung":

DIIV, Is the Is Are

Jangly rock music from Brooklyn, bounced off Planet Claire straight from 1983.  Dreamy stuff you can pogo to, beginning with "Under the Sun."

Jaguar Ma, Every Now & Then

Jagwar Ma offer rich surprises, mixing genres and sounds the way Talking Heads, Beck and Gomez do.  And ooh, so fresh:  "OB1"

Maxwell, BlackSUMMERs'night

I'm a sucker for soul crooners and Maxwell's latest offers the smooth seduction of Prince, Teddy Prendergass and Marvin at their peak, as "1990X" demonstrates.

James Vincent McMorrow, We Move

I love James Blake and his moody electro soul but McMorrow beat him at his own game, like some  peppier, more extroverted younger brother.  Better dancer, too, I'll bet.

Frank Ocean, Blonde

Could Frank be the Nick Drake of hip-hop?  Blonde, with its rich melodies full of misery, says  "absolutely!"  "Pink + White" is his "Pink Moon."

Anderson.Paak,  Malibu

Paak was everywhere this year all on the considerable strength of this disk that perfectly captures the sound of pop music right now.  His heritage of classic R&B and roots rap are on display in tracks like "Am I Wrong".

Parquet Courts, Human Performance

Whatever happened to snark and snarl in indie rock?  Here is its smart embodiment.  Turn up "Dust" really loud and wake up Jonathan Richman.

Poom, 2016

This was the soundtrack of my summer and it's just as good by the hearth in early winter.  Vivid pop produced like vintage Hall & Oates with every word in French (which would have made Darryl and John sound a while lot smarter).

Allen Toussaint, American Tunes

Toussaint is the author of what you think of as the New Orleans sound and on this, his posthumous release, he reinterprets his own classics and Big Easy standards at the piano. Covering Professor Longhair on "Big Chief" kind of sums it up.  G'night Allen.

Still to come -- singles and remembrances.