Favorites of 2022

This list didn't happen last year which was ironic when there was little to do but listen.  But I'm still finding new musical pleasures, and seeing the connections with the music that shaped me.  So here, once again, are the new sounds that most nourished, surprised and pleased me in the year gone by:

Office Culture, Big Time Things

These smart, sparkly-textured pop songs have a decade's spanning style that recalls Steely Dan, Belle and Sebastian and Kings of Convenience all at once. And maybe this year's best band name.

Robert Glasper, Black Radio III

BRIII perfectly embodies the pleasure of listening to adventurous radio stations like Philly's WDAS in the 70's and 80's. Glasper, his generation's Herbie Hancock, is genius. 

Wet Leg, Wet Leg

Wet Leg is a British duo that will more than meet your needs for tuneful noise.  Post-punk should always be this much fun.  

Mansions on the Moon, Lightyears EP

I'm a sucker for the kind of chilled-out, SoCal pop songs that I hear only on KCRW in Santa Monica.  This blissful EP is the bastard child of Rumors-era Fleetwood Mac and Avalon-era Roxy Music.  

She She She, Prism

Did you love the girl groups of the 60's like I did?  That charm is all here, dressed up in electro-soul.  Doo wop that thing, for sure. 

Young Gun Silver Fox, Ticket to Shangri-La

Someone's making new yacht rock, as shiny and addictive as the originals.  These guys.

Willie Nelson, A Beautiful Time

Nelson is the Keith Richards of country. He's improbably still alive and writing and recording rich, satisfying new tunes.  

Plus three from last year's uncompiled list:

Yola, Stand for Myself

Yola produced a miracle that recalls "Dusty in Memphis" -- a completely captivating blend of country and R&B with a contemporary sheen.  

Leon Bridges, Gold Diggers Soul

Drake crossed with Bill Withers? Nah, just foolin'.  But close.  

Pastor T.L. Barret and the Youth for Christ Choir, I Shall Wear a Crown

I'm breaking all my own rules with this 2021 compilation of Chicago gospel recordings, some going back to the 1970's.  But it is transcendent.  Can I get an "Amen"?

###

Spotify Playlist:   https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0U4T34i8XhG5o8LDEWJi01?si=71b90cc96343472e

Chilly Scenes of Winter

An Overview on Phenomenal Nature, Cassandra Jenkins 

The smartly observed songs of Aimee Mann, Kate & Anna McGarrigle and the Roches have always cast a spell over me.  Their work rewarded deep listening, with occasional turns of phrase that could pierce your heart.  Jenkins has that talent and this disc, her second full-length work, shows it off.  She's first and foremost a storyteller and these stories are full of searching and pain, but somehow not despair.  Are they her stories?  They are now.  

Most Memorable Songs of 2020

The whole idea of "the best" of this weird year is an oxymoron, so let's change the frame. These were songs that brought comfort, or offered distraction or simply made me present to their beauty. In 2020, that was enough.  

 "Winter in America," The Archives - DC reggae band covers Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson: "And now it's winter in America."  Is it ever!

"Ladies," Fiona Apple - Only a few of Apple's songs hit my radar over the years. This one broke the screen.  

"These Are the Time," Molly Parden -  This beauty came wrapped in a "Dark Side of the Moon" gloss. 

"Time (You and I)," Khruangbin - This mood elevator got me out of the dumps all summer long with the funk vamp of the year. 

"Los Angeles," Haim - A bouncy hymn to the City of Angels that made me want to get on an airplane.  That's so not happening.  

"Circles," Mac Miller - A beautiful postscript to Miller's hard-lived life. 

Cheesin', Cautious Clay - "Cheesin" - (verb) smiling widely with contentment or happiness.  As in, "This song had me cheesin."

"Around the Sun," Poolside - And who didn't need a little Yacht Rock this year?

"Rose in the Dark," Cleo Sol - New neo-soul classic. "Do you know that things get better?"

"Kindness," HNNY -  Sometimes a tight little trip-hop groove with the ambient chops of vintage Brian Eno is all you need. 

"Friday," Real Estate - "Monday last, I had a dream. Not sure I woke up all week."

"Both of Us," Jayda G,  - If I coulda had a party, I woulda started it with this. 

"Ordinary Days," Isaac Waddington - And love kept happening in spite of it all. 

Hang on.  2021's comin'. 

####

Honorable Mention:  Deacon Blues, Bill Callahan; Hammond Song, Whitney; Dragonball Durag, Thundercat; Johnny, Sarah Jarosz; Everything You Touch is Gold, Gregory Porter; Nancy Wilson, Jazz is Dead 001; Blinding Light, The Weekend; Pale Blue Moon, A Girl Called Eddy; Wasted, Tomberlin; Woman, Nao; Don't Bring No Ladder, Clem Snide

Coming Into Los Angeles

Women in Music Part III

Haim

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:  

'Los Angeles":

"Don't Wanna":

And it goes on!!

Simpler Times: "Rainy Day Music"

The Jayhawks
Rainy Day Music



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:

Favorite Songs of 2019

Here are the ones that were on repeat in my house, car and headphones this crazy year. Surprise! This works as a playlist, too.

Tame Impala, Borderline
Kevin Parker getting quietly jiggy with it.

Brittany Howard, Stay High
Lordy, can this woman sing.

Toro y Moi,  Ordinary Pleasure
He tore up this song and its deathless hook at Brooklyn Steel.

Faye Webster, Come to Atlanta
Doing that funky, jazzy thing.

H.E.R., Hard Place 
Sweet heartbreak for the slow dance or the last call.

Jai Paul, He
He released a bunch of tracks he called "unfinished."  Not this one.

Solange, Stay Flo
Just a groove but what a groove.

Billie Ellish, Bad Guy
This year's 17 year-old prodigy.  Scary.

Kaytranda & Van Jess, Dysfunctional 
Sometimes a simple ambition is all you need: make 'em dance.

Haim, Summer Girl
A top down song that opens with a drum riff from G. Love and then sneaks in a Lou Reed sample? Sign me up for that.

Favorite Albums of 2019

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!"

###

Favorite Singles of 2018

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.

RIP Queen of Soul.

Best Albums of 2018

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.

Singles coming, too.

Best Albums of 2017

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.  

Honorable Mention:

Nick Hakim, Green Twins

Chicano Batman, Freedom is Free

CZA, Ctrl

Miguel, War & Leisure

Brent Faiyez, Sonder Son

Viva Mexico!

The Mosquitos
Mexican Dust

It took me all of the summer of 2017 to find it's essential sound (not counting "This Girl," kids).   Here it is, in time for a Labor Day hang  in the hammock.

The Mosquitoes have been around for fifteen years and I fell under the spell of their 2004 "Sunshine Barato."  A little bit bossa nova, a little bit chill, a little bit pop.  This is Sergio Mendes with a mescal buzz.  And I'm a sucker for lead singer Juju Stuhlbach (there's a multicultural meme for you!) and her Astrud Gilberto hush, like right here on "This Town":

Warm Voices, New & Old

Gabriel Garzoń-Montano, Jardin

Bill Withers, 'Justments

In a world where false equivalencies abound, it can be a risky game to compare things that are truly not the same.  But something about Garzoń-Montano's brand new disc, Jardin, brings to mind Wither's long ago 'Justments, and that thing is the wonderful warmth of their two voices.  

Start with Jardin a release that's easy to call "electro-soul," even if that undersells Garzoń-Montano's song craft.  He's in the Drake orbit and has a voice that makes you lean in to hear what he's saying.  A Pitchfork reviewer heard 60's sounds of the The Bee Gees and The Association in his easy pop.  I do, too.  I could imagine being thirteen to the sound of "Fruitflies," (just not again): 

Now return to Withers, under appreciated though still very much alive at 78.  He released 'Justments in 1973, while your brain was recovering from the ubiquity of "Lean on Me" and "Ain"t No Sunshine" (proving you can get too much a good thing). 'Justments was different, not just for its lack of a mega hit but for the easy way Wither's relaxed warmth grabbed your attention, just like Garzoń-Montano's does.  Here's Withers' "Can We Pretend," but I could convince you with any track on this disc:

Both of these disks offer special comfort here in deep winter.  Go ahead and experience them the old school way: listen to the whole damn thing.  

And speaking of old school, here's the 60's sound of The Association that Garzoń-Montano puts me so oddly in mind of:

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"