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.
There was great new music coming out of everywhere this year, but vintage rock and soul are like a dog whistle to me. I hear it and I come running. Turn it up.
10. "Adorn," Miguel - A late 2012 release that lit up my near year. Robin Thicke wasn't the only guy stealing moves from Marvin. Man cast a long shadow.
9. "Peach Blossom," the Eels - A workout song that makes you you feel faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive.
8. "Down Down the Deep River," Okkerville River - "But it's not alright, it's not even close to alright."
7. "Reflector," Arcade Fire - Arcade Fire burning bright for over 7 minutes. Light my fire.
6. "When a Fire Starts to Burn," Disclosure - Uh, oh. Dancing in the kitchen again to the sound of EDM.
5. "Simple Twist of Fate," Sarah Jarosz - The cover of the year. Breathtaking.
4. "King and Cross," Asgeir - Icelandic guy singing English phonetically perhaps? Hey, it worked for ABBA.
3. "Get Lucky," Daft Punk - I've heard it about three million times and I'm still not done with the Nile Rogers rhythm guitar line. Le Freak, c'est chic.
2. "Blurred Lines," Robin Thicke - Trashy, trashy, trashy. "Everybody get up," starts Pharrell. And did we ever.
1. "Her Favorite Song," Mayer Hawthorne - Mayer doing his very convincing blue-eyed soul thing, with the best hook of the year. Extra points for the basset at the turntable. (R.I.P. Woodrow)
Honorable Mentions:
"The It Switch," Johnny Marr
"Hold On, We're Going Home," Drake
"Agape," Bears Den
"Falling (Psychemagik Remix)," HAIM
Electronic sounds run through this year's list -- I found them irresistible. Hip-hop may be the backbone of most pop music in 2013, but the sound of EDM (electronic dance music) is seeping in everywhere around the edges. It's not a new sound, to be sure; it's the metronomic beat that animated disco, the synth-y gloss of New Wave, the booming bottom of House, and the sonic wash of Eno's ambient music.
But that's not all you'll find on the list. There's classic R&B from an old school blues hand, a dead-on album of stark alt country songs, power pop to die for, and a brand new diva. If most of these sounds have the upbeat hum of contentment and joy, it's no coincidence. 2013 brought me much joy: health, happiness, family. Hope there was much of that in your year, too.
1. Rhye, Woman
This was a constant on my virtual turntable, the morning, noon and night sound of 2013: the dreamy sound of obsessive love in the unmistakable, androgynous voice of Mike Milosh.
This year, there was no better case than this for the power of albums to create s sustained musical mood. By turns minimalist and danceable, Rhye's Woman has claimed a place alongside Roxy Music's Avalon as an enduring statement of romanticism.
"The Fall" will make clear why:
2. Jason Isbell, Southeastern
I was not a Drive-By Truckers fan. If there was a joke behind that band (which Isbell fronts), I never got it. But Jason Isbell on his own is no joke. His songs are all about exposed pain and they are as real and immediate as anything Dylan, Cash, Willie or Jerry Jeff ever served up. He's heir to them all.
This is spare, unadorned music about important stuff. Pay attention.
3. HAIM, Days Are Gone
Haim, the sister act of 2013, make the case for California pop as the perfect expression of American music. In their debut, the Eagles, Rumors-era Fleetwood Mac, the Bangles and the Byrds are all whirling around in a sonic Cuisinart.
"Days Are Gone" is a captivating confection, hopelessly overhyped and proudly unimportant -- but totally satisfying, a musical Dove Bar. Take the wrapper off "Falling" and take a big bite.
4. Kurt Vile, Waking on a Pretty Day
A Philadelphia story, Vile starts with the under-appreciated band War on Drugs and ends up recording a solo mash-up of Neil Young and the Kinks. Velvet Underground undertones season this liberally. Waking on a Pretty Daze perfectly makes the case that "quiet is the new loud."
"Never Run Away" is a succinct expression of this and Vile's unique talent.
5. Minor Alps, Get There
I came late to the Nada Surf party and now devour their output. Smart power pop songs are nothing to sneer at and doing them well is genius. In my book, Nada Surf is in a league with Marshall Crenshaw and Mathew Sweet.
Minor Alps is a side-project of NS frontman Mathew Caws teaming up with Juliana Hatfield. Their voices and musical sensibilities blend beautifully and typically on "Waiting for You."
6. Jessie Ware, Devotion
Ware's Devotion was released last year in the UK where it was Mercury Prize nominated, but didn't turn up here until 2013. And I was waiting, believe me.
Ware is what Sade would sound like if she sang out loud. She has an enormous voice and a great feel for R&B. "If You"re Never Gonna Move" makes the case perfectly.
7. Washed Out, Paracosm
Washed Out is the sound of a certain zeitgeist. His "Feel It All Around" opens Portlandia, the wickedly funny spoof of aging hipsters everywhere. Washed Out is Ernest Greene; evidently on the chillwave scene, you need a nom de musique other than your own.
Paracosm sits in the "daytime disco" space that Poolside's Pacific Standard Time occupied on my list last year. Melodic, airy electronica with feet firmly rooted in R&B, it's music for millennials, as the video for "All I Want" makes plain. Listen anyway.
8. Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City
This was the disc that made clear these guys are in it for the long haul. The songs are more varied and their Afro-pop is toned down. But the lyrical and musical freshness -- which initially, and still, win them comparisons to Paul Simon -- are here on vivid display.
There are shout outs to Modern Vampires on so many year end lists right now. Believe them. And if you're skeptical, listen to "Obvious Bicycle."
9. James Blake, Overgrown
Blake is a genre-hopping wunderkind, but the texture of much of this music has the open space feel of Massive Attack's classic Protection. There is melody here to soften the sound of longing and loss, and it's what makes this music feel so redemptive to me.
Overgrown is the only "challenging" disc on this year's list, but on repeated listening it reveals the soul sensibility that is at the heart of Blake's music. You could imagine Mavis Staples singing "Digital Lion" and making it her own.
10. Boz Scaggs, Memphis
Written off for his disco-tinged '80's hits, Boz has always been a blues singer at heart. On this return to form, he serves up an album of covers that are dripping with the sound of Al Green's classic Hi recordings (think the swampy sound of "Let's Stay Together"). We get some southern soul classics, like "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Love on a Two Way Street" that he predictably slays, and some Willy deVille songs resurrected from obscurity. Put on this old school gem and see how long it takes for folks to recognize his unmistakable sound.
Start with his sweet version of Tryone Davis' "Can I Change My Mind."
Still to come for those with shorter attention spans, "Best Singles of 2013."
Back in the early 70's, the appearance of every guitar strumming talent prompted murmurings of "the new Dylan." We heard it famously about Springsteen when he burst forth with "Greetings..", but we also heard it endless, about Loudon Wainwright, John Prine, Patti Smith, Warren Zevon. Dylan was barely in his 30's by then, but he was the reference point. If you sang sophisticated lyrics and had an unconventional voice, you were the "new Dylan."
Flash forward forty years. Here's Jason Isbell, lately a member of the alt-country Drive By Truckers. He has the aching vocal strain of Ryan Adams, the lyrical sophistication (and bleakness) of Zevon. Songs of hard luck, regret and hope. A shoe-in for my top ten of 2013.
You know his "Stockholm" from your favorite indie radio station. His poignant, "Different Days" will remind you of another new Dylan, Cat Stevens (in his best moments).
But the masterpiece is this heartbreaker, "Relatively Easy."
My Dad died three and half years ago at 88 and the speed with which my Mother emptied the closets was breathtaking. This is a widow's prerogative and no one would question how they choose to grieve and begin to live their lives without a partner. But by the time I looked up from my own grief, the personal trappings of his life were mostly dispersed.
I have held onto four things. First, a blue plaid Brooks Brothers shirt that I gave him to brighten his wardrobe and pamper him; he would have never spent this much on a shirt, as he tirelessly declared about so many things. I wear it now rarely and usually to family gatherings where no one seems to recognize it as his. It's a reminder of our different frames in all senses.
Second, is a too narrow, shamrock covered tie, a St. Patrick's Day staple of his when it was a proud declaration of his heritage. Being Irish, for him and me, entails at its core a sharp awareness of the blessings that illuminate a troubled world. My family finds this perplexing enough. I do not need to wear the tie to remind them.
Then there's his Cross pen which he was never without. "Anyone have a pen?" He always had this one. The first appeared in the late 60's when they were the ne plus ultra of corporate gifts. A stream arrived, bearing logos and inscriptions; I lost every one he gave me until my Mother gave me this one of his after his death. After a frantic few days when I thought I had misplaced it, this one rarely leaves my bureau. When I hold it, I feel connected to him. It's totemic.
And finally there's this music. I introduced him to Louis Jordan when I was in my thirties and our relationship had been repaired. While Jordan's music was from his generation, it was unknown to him. He loved it as much as I did. I heard the roots of rock and roll taking shape and he heard the romp of the big bands.
To hear it now is to see his face beaming, in thrall of its syncopated rhythm and sly wordplay. "Take me right back to the track, Jack."
Remember the Roches, the fresh young things who broke onto the folk scene in the late '70's? They haunted last remaining folk clubs of that era with a charming irony and a knowing feminism. C'mon, you remember how they'd open, "We are Maggie and Terri and Suzy..." Oh forget it. The bridge I'm building here is to sister acts and the Pointer Sisters don't get me where I'm going.
The Roches fooled around for one album with guitarist Robert Fripp, who sent a blippy, electronic pulse through the record that underscored the uncanny way that those sisters were wired together.
So that's how we get to Haim, three Los Angeles sisters who are making electro-folk that's infectious and joyful and once again demonstrates that there's something special about sister acts.
This is a wave that's still forming off-shore: a couple of EP's to their credit and a first album due at the end of September. They will be big.
No, not Billy Joel. Did you think I had taken leave of my senses in the heat?
The jazz pianist Brad Mehldau is the piano man of my summer dreams. And on this, the hottest day of the year (so far), I am keeping my sanity and my cool by listening to his extraordinarily nuanced recordings of "new standards."
The jazz crowd love Mehldau for his virtuosity and musical originality, changing keys and time signatures and completely shifting the listener's perspective on familiar composition.
Me? I love the songs he covers -- jazz takes on Radiohead, Paul Simon, Soundgarden, the Beatles and 60's pop.
Listen to him steal "Alfie" back from the realm of Musak:
On his trio recordings, the bass and percussion bring electricity to even the subtlest ballads, like a softly burning candle that sparks and crackles. His treatment of L&M's "Blackbird" is revelatory:
Mehldau now has a place on my list of go-to jazz pianists, who always satisfy. It's rare company: Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Ahmad Jamal, Herbie Hancock and, of course, Thelonius Monk.
You can beat the heat with any these guys, but Mehldau is for me the new, new thing.
Another great Los Angeles quartet that you should know about, Mansions on the Moon sit at the corner of CSN and Kraftwerk. Bet you didn't think those streets would ever intersect, did you? Well they do in 2013 and there's a chillwave party going on on this corner.
Check out their video linking two songs from their recent EP, Lightyears.
Kurt Vile. You'd figure him for a punk, right? Sid Vicious. Jello Biafra. Richard Hell. Those are not names for singer/songwriters. So you, like me, might have passed right by Mr. Vile, a Philadelphian who spent some time in the band War on Drugs. Word up: slow down.
Vile (born Kurt Samuel Vile; who would do that to a kid?) records in a variety of styles but the stuff that grabbed me is from his 2013 Walking on A Pretty Daze, a mashup of the Velvets, Neil Young and the Kinks, all in their low decibel mode. A psychedelic stew of low-fi, reverb and mumble-core vocals.
"Walking on a Pretty Day," the 9-minute title track (sort of) would have been right at home on Young's Everybody Knows this is Nowhere, but Vile's vocals are easier on the ears.
"Never Run Away" is more succinct and on it, Vile sounds to me like the love child of Ray Davies and Dean Wareham of Luna. His parents must be so proud.
Bonus: In 1985, Lou Reed turned up on Lost in the Stars, a "tribute" album to the real Kurt Weill that, I'm embarrassed to say, was where I figured out who Weill was and was put wise to his weird sensibility. Reed's version of "September Song" was worth the price of that disk. It's still a keeper.
Submitted for your consideration: A dreamy, musical world that percolates with a Sade feel, which is to say, tinged with melancholy and ache, but somehow makes you happy. A high, clear vocal presence that confuses you with gender references until you learn it's actually a guy, Mike Milosh, who possesses a beautiful countertenor. An album cover that celebrates the beauty of the female form with a a grace that Mapplethorpe would admire. Musical influences that build a completely contemporary chill-wave soundscape: Golden Years-era Bowie, Bare Trees-vintage Fleetwood Mac, all with a Gamble & Huff gloss. Welcome to the Rhye-light Zone. You'll be wanting to stay a while.
