Amplifying the music, books, movies and journalism that matter.
Life is complicated and busy. Did you notice? Keeping up with the music, movies and books that fed your youthful imagination and conversations is harder than ever, but even more important. Here's the good news: there's never been more great new stuff. The challenge is to find it.
So here are my highly opinionated views on sounds, sights and words that will help you keep it fresh and real, and links to the veins where the richest motherlodes can be found.
With California locking down again, let's lean in and remember how close it sits to the soul of American culture -- and how this frontier surprises us, fascinates us, scares us. This is the moment to listen to Haim's new disk -- in solidarity and celebration. They've made the quintessential summer album for this disorienting summer of 2020. Brilliant sisters are doing it for themselves:
Released in 2003, Rainy Day Music announced that close harmony singing -- the 60's sound of The Beach Boys, The Mamas and the Papas, Poco and yes, The Burritos -- was a sound for the new millennium. Breaking out in the first 80's flowering of alt country, The Jayhawks were nearly twenty years in when they released this twangy masterpiece. There are fuzzy guitars and pedal steel anchoring melodic songs about breakups and redemption. There's rock royalty on hand if you care about that sort of thing: producer Rick Rubin, Mathew Sweet ("Girlfriend," sigh) and Bernie Leadon (Buritos, Eagles). But somewhere, Gram Parsons was smiling when he heard this:
The end of a decade. I didn't see this coming. Should I feel obliged to call out decade defining discs that embody the trends of the 'teens? Nah. Once again, these are simply the disks that held up for me, from start to finish and after repeated listens. And there were lots of them, so work one or two into your rotation. And listen to the whole damn thing; somebody worked hard on this.
Vampire Weekend, Father of the Bride
I liked the old VW just fine, the smart collegiate pop that Ezra Koenig and Rostam Batmanglij made beginning almost 15 years ago. Wry wordplay and recycled Afrobeats. It was fresh and original, even if it genuflected to Paul Simon. And now Koenig is at the helm alone and it feels, well, better. The rhythms are still nervous but the songwriting is simpler and clearer, and the collaborators -- including Danielle Haim and Rostam, too -- stretch VW in new directions, befitting the more grown-up subject matter.
Clairo, Immunity
There's a place in the world for soft rock. My living room, for starters. Immunity was Clairo's official debut after breaking out on "YouCloud" or wherever the hell it is breakouts happen these days. Here she's got the A-team at her side (look, Rostam and Danielle again!), showing off pop songcraft chops that make me think she'll be around for a while.
Raphael Sadiq, Jimmy Lee
Sadiq has been an R&B demigod since the late '80's, with a genius for turning out soulful pop gems -- dazzling, sparkling things you want to replay the minute they end. Jimmy Lee aims even higher: a song cycle about his late brother, a victim of addiction, that ranges over genres and styles. It reaches for a Stevie Wonder cohesiveness (think Fullfillingness' First Finale) and mostly succeeds.
Lana Del Rey, Norman F***ing Rockwell
She's like a difficult friend. You think, I don't need another evening of her drama, but then she's brilliantly on -- witty and insightful with turns of phrase that astonish and smart-mouthed putdowns that keep you howling. And the melodies! And you think, if only she could just be like this all the time. She could be a Joni or Carole for these times -- as long as she keeps her shit together.
Snoh Aalegra, - Ugh Those Feels Again What the world needs now is some fresh makeout music. Sade's Diamond Life and Roxy Music's Avalon have been with us for 35 years and Barry White's not coming back from the dead. So thank Aalegra, a Swede, for delivering a new quiet storm classic, weaving a spell with smokey, fresh, deep-house tinged tracks that surpass her 2017 Feels. She's more at home here, singing from a deeper place -- and more authentically soulful. Let's stay in tonight.
Helado Negro, This Is How You Smile
Synth-folk from a Florida-born son of Ecuadorian parents, now living in Brooklyn. This is cutting edge music that won't make you edgy. Sung in Spanish and English, the texture of these dreamy songs belies the pain of the immigrant experience that Roberto Carlos Lange describes. But it's so not a downer. Instead, This Is How You Smile offered me reasons for hope this year. What a gift!
Bill Callahan, Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest
The simplicity of folk music made sense to me this year. I dipped back into '60's legends Tom Rush, Chris Smither and (God help me) Gordon Lightfoot. But Callahan is a folksinger for this decade, who eschews politics but looks deeply at everyday life. The minor key of Shepherd can conceal that these are happy songs about successful romance and family. Callahan reminds us that sometimes melancholy can be a satisfying place to visit.
Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan, Epistrophy
There are hundreds of jazz albums released every year that do what this does: document a single, fleeting, live performance by seasoned jazz professionals. What made this one special for me was a rare chemistry between guitarist Frisell (a favorite of mine) and bassist Morgan, deconstructing a collection of jazz standards. They are neither noisy nor flashy; indeed, both are masters of restraint. But in their quiet playing they reveal the architecture of these songs and make them new.
Moonchild, Little Ghost
This may prove a completely disposable bit of electro-soul, a hybrid of Floetry, Massive Attack, and late period Everything But the Girl, but I loved it. It's all about the beats.
Lizzo, Cuz I Love You
How could this not be here? She was everywhere, breaking through with the same confident, modern swagger we love about Erykah and Janelle. And the sound? It looks back to Betty Wright and Millie Jackson, and across the road to Brittany Howard, while being completely her own with that freaky flute, big guitars and whip smart drumming. Who wouldn't love this? Everybody sing: "Ya-ya-ee, ya-ya-ee!"
Lucky thirteen. No apologies, no explanations -- these are the ones I kept putting on in 2018.
desert rose
Yellow Shoots
I am a complete sucker for blue-eyed soul and I blame it all on Hall & Oates and the Rascals.
5 Dollars
Christine and the Queens
I'm so busted. My weakness for French pop -- from Serge Gainsbourg to Plastic Bertrand to Poom --gets me caught red-handed again.
Mockingbird
Ruston Kelly
This is so country I feel like I need a gun rack.
I Like It
Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin
From spin class to the Thai restaurant, everybody was getting their Afro-Cuban thing on with this one. Me, too.
thank u, next
Ariana Grande
Is this a perfect pop song or what?
Come Back to Earth
Mac Miller
Gone too soon. But what a groove he busted while he was here. Come back to earth, indeed.
You Don't Know
Leon Bridges
Bridges made a killer album full of soul sounds but this track -- nodding to disco -- stood out for me.
Boys
Lizzo
As Aretha and Annie pointed out, "sisters are doing it for themselves."
Pick Up
DJ Koze
A deep house gem built on samples of Gladys Knight and Melba Moore. "The past isn't dead; it isn't even past."
Trip
Ella Mai
Straight outta London, this new R&B talent topped her own "Boo'd Up" (and don't tell me you didn't wear that out, too).
Heaven Only Knows
Bob Moses
I can't be the only one who wants to rock some deep house for a long hill climb.
Great Day
Brad Mehldau Trio
Melhdau is Bill Evans' worthiest heir and this is him and his trio at their peak.
And one last one:
Ain't No Way
Aretha Franklin
I would trade all my 60's music heroes -- Dylan, Jagger, Clapton, Lennon, Simon -- all of them, for Aretha Franklin. And this is the recording of her singing a song written by her sister, that I offer as proof.
I was all over the place musically in 2018, re-exploring Latin R&B, Burt Bacharach and psychedelic soul, but still finding time for Cardi B and Drake. As usual, there's no rhyme or reason to this list -- just the best remembered disks that offered the most enduring pleasure. There's A Riot Going On
Yo La Tengo
With a title cribbed from Sly Stone, this is YLT at their dreamy best, creating the honeyed psychedelic sounds that made "Summer Sun" so irresistible fifteen years ago. Kaplan, Hubley and McNew manage to distill all the rock music that has mattered since the Velvet Underground on "For You Too," proving once again that quiet is the new loud.
Hive Mind
The Internet
It's possible that I actually listened to too much vintage R&B in 2018: Ashford and Simpson, Curtis and Aretha were spinning constantly at my house until stuttering bass lines invaded my dreams. But when I was looking for a really fresh groove, I found it in The Internet's trip-y universe. You'll hear why on "Look What You Started."
Negro Swan
Blood Orange
Dev Hynes continues to dazzle with his personal, confessional and danceable creations. The magic trick on Negro Swan is how Hynes takes all the tropes of the genre and makes something stunningly new. One word for you: "Orlando."
Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton John
Juliana Hatfield
Did I enjoy this so much because it was such a brilliantly goofy idea? Maybe these songs were way better than I remembered? Did I unfairly diss ONJ when she was everywhere on the radio? Nah, it's just that Hatfield's so good at slightly roughing up these pop gems without putting her tongue in her cheek. (And for the record, I HAVE ever been mellow.)
Dirty Computer
Janelle Monae
Prince may be two years gone, but his protege is alive and well, showing what she learned from the Purple One. This is Monae without the concepts and the characters, strutting her sassy stuff on the corner of Rock and Rap. Roll down the window and turn up "Make Me Feel."
Ask Me Anything-EP
Neil Frances
Frances was the "never heard of 'em" opening act for Poolside this summer when we stumbled in at the end of his set. There he was, channeling Janet Jackson in all her "Rhythm Nation" glory and the sound of my summer was set. See if you can't get a contact high from "Dumb Love."
Springsteen on Broadway
Bruce Springsteen
Catching his Broadway gig was worth every penny for the guy's crystalline self-awareness, acting chops and storytelling genius. The songs weren't bad either. I left raving about a Pulitzer prize, which isn't a crazy idea. "Growing Up" was where it started for me.
Golden Hour
Kacey Musgraves
Musgrave's Golden Hour is a revelation. With a voice like a young Emmylou and a songwriting talent that crosses Carole King with Taylor Swift, she produces country pop that deliver that peaceful, easy feeling without making you stupid. I hope she's around for a long, long time to make songs as captivating as "Golden Hour."
Ventriloquism
Meshell Ndegeocello
The minor, pre-hip-hop classics of the 80's and 90's get a second look from Ndegeocello, the criminally overlooked bassist who's been making incredible music since Madonna signed her in '93. Only she could treat TLC's "Waterfalls" so reverently.
Head Over Heels
Chromeo
Okay, so it's a completely derivative stew of Bruno Mars, Nile Rogers and Prince. I dare you to stand still when "Bad Decision" comes on. Dropped the bomb on me.
I fell out of the blogging habit in 2017, but not out of the listening habit. Music this year was a way to tune out the noise and turn up the warmth. Not a bad strategy in any year. Here are the warmest sounds of my year.
10. The XX, I See You- Call it electro-R&B or techno-soul, The XX are still making the smartest music around. "On Hold" makes that clear with its killer Hall & Oates sample. Name that tune.
9. Thundercat, Drunk - If Marvin Gaye had made "Dark Side of the Moon," it would sound like Drunk, a fever dream of funk, soul, jazz and dream pop, with tunes like "Show You the Way," where Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins (Kenny Loggins!) improbably turn up.
8. LCD Soundsystem, American Dream -- Make some noise for James Murphy, who brought LCD roaring back to life this year. Did you really think he'd be happy making coffee? "Change Yr Mind" shows him a worthy heir to Talking Heads.
7. Moon Boots, First Landing - At the intersection of French techno-pop and deep house, DJ Moon Boots and his vocalists deliver deeper shades of techno-soul. "Keep the Faith," with Nic Hansen, is this year's daytime disco champ.
6. The Black Seeds, Fabric - Brand new reggae. Did you forget it was still going on? It didn't stop with Bob.
5. Young Marco, Welcome to Paradise (Italian Dream House) - Deep house with a slinky dose of La Dolce Vita that's perfect with your first Negroni. Tracks from '89 to '93, compiled in 2017 but hey, "my blog, my rules."
4. - Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile, Lotta Sea Lice -These two are the Marvin and Tammi of the alternative scene right now, singing songs of disillusion laced with feedback. Heaven.
3. Snoh Aalegra, Feels - This soulful Swede calls up Eryka Badu, Nina Simone, Amy Winehouse and Mary J. Blige (no, really) with hip-hop accents. Nearly perfect. Thanks Jake for this one.
2. Beck, Colours - What's so funny about peace, love and pop music? This retro-Beck will make you happy doing anything.
1. Gabriel Garzon-Montano,Jardin - A whip-smart Brooklyn boy steeped in Jeff Buckley and Prince. The needle drops on a quiet storm of tuneful soul with the warmth of Bill Withers and the breakbeats of early hip-hop. "The Game" seals the deal.
