2025: Top 5 New Albums

 My top 5 albums released in 2024 or 2025 (because I can't listen to EVERYTHING the moment it comes out)

5. Carla Kihlstedt - 26 Little Deaths

Present Music, 03/2025

"a 60-minute set of 26 miniatures for singing violinist and chamber orchestra" Inspired by Edward Gorey's exquisite children's book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies (a favorite at our house). This is a varied orchestral set of compositions, each about a... rather unique ... way to die. Each page brings macabre brilliance. I especially love A (a 30 second crash imitating Amy falling down the stairs), and Z, a cabaret drinking song, for Zillah, who drank too much Gin with her dolly. We caught this live with the Oregon Symphony, on a semi-whim, and fell in love.

 

4. Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More

 

4AD Records, 11/2024

I mentioned last year that I hadn't listened to this album and I wanted to. Well, I did. Nothing else on the album quite matches the brilliance of the song Coast, but this is a great set from Kim Deal.

3. Andi Camp - A Life Less Terrified

 

Grafton Records, 02/2025

Andi's first solo album in 20 years, and maybe my favorite of her solo albums. Andi (formerly of Ribbon Fix) has spent several entries in this list with her bands The Hold Out and Temper and Hold. I listened to this record a bunch when I got it, then put it on the shelf for a few months. I brought it out again later in the year, and felt like I was being wrapped in the warm familiar comfort of these songs. I can't recommend it higher than that.

2. Shellac - To All Trains

Touch and Go Records, 05/2024

R.I.P. Steven Frank Albini. Steve Albini died just around the time Shellac released this record, and I'm sad that I don't get any more Shellac. This album is great, though. A worthy addition to a top-notch rock and roll band's great albums. There's a lot of ink spilled over this album, because of the circumstances of its release. I can't really add anything more to the words about it, but it's great. By turns comical and fun. the song Scabby the Rat makes me giggle every time. Elsewhere, the album is a bit more somber. "I don't fear hell. The floor show would be incredible."

1. Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles

 

Sub Pop Records, 05/2025

This is Alan's second solo album since the untimely 2022 passing of his wife and musical partner, Mimi Parker. His first, White Roses, My God, released in 2024, was densely electronic, difficult, and uneven. Didn't make my top 5 last year. This album fulfills the promise of his songwriting within Low, as well as the heartwrenching performances on his solo tour.

Trampled by Turtles are also from Duluth, and are a pretty famous band in their own sphere (modern Bluegrass). I suspect they may actually be more popular than Low. Alan has shared the stage with them a few times over the years (including this heartwrenching performance less than a month after Mimi's death). They make such a natural backing band for Alan, I want this collaboration to be a permanent thing. 

Two of the songs here are acoustic reimaginings of the digital experiments on White Roses, My God. Several are naked expressions of grief. All are super listenable. 

P.S. You know I'm a Low fan. They keep showing up in this list.

2025: Top 5 New Discoveries

 (5 favorite albums from 2023 or prior that I discovered this year)

5. Eldritch Anisette - Complete Fairytales

Released as a cassette demo and 7" in 1997.
Reissue compilation: Numero Group 08/2025

2025 was the year of the Emo Reissue for me. Eldritch Anisette was one of the brightest spots on the Sequoia box set (more on this later), and I snagged the insanely limited-run LP from Numero. This is great, unheard 90s indie with female vocals. Now that Numero's plugging it, it's going to be all over your spotify just like Everyone Asked About You.

 

4. Brian Eno - Another Green World

   

Island Records, 1975

Yes, it's taken me this long to finally hear this album. And yes, it's exactly as good as you would expect. This is one of Eno's "pop" albums, but about half the songs are instrumental. Recommended if you like Bowie's berlin albums, Talking Heads, or just really good rock music.

3. Cypress Hill

   

Columbia Records, 1991

I don't listen to much rap. But I totally dig this. This is G-funk the way I like it. West coast and silly. Yes, the Insane in the Brain beat gets put in half the movie trailers nowadays, but this is some cool stuff. This, technically, is their first album, before Insane in the Brain... but this album is just as good as Black Sunday. Sounds like they're having a lot of fun making this. OK, so I'm a little bit annoyed that they keep rhyming things with "trigger"... oh well...

 

2. Blow It Out Your Ass It's Veruca Salt

 

DGC, 1996

Major label EPs seem to get lost in the hype machine. I missed this EP the first time around, and I haven't run into it since. After being the overhyped alterna-next-big-thing with their 1995 debut American Thighs, Veruca Salt pulled a Nirvana and recorded with Steve Albini (yay! lots of Albini love in this list, always). This EP is what I always wanted from Veruca Salt. Shimmer and grit. More than just a Breeders rip-off, but a snarling, layered, melodic treat. This is 4 GREAT songs from Veruca.

1. Sequoia / Sycamore box set

 

Numero Group, 2025

A big square box that will forever sit in my living room-- This is an ambitious 25 7" box set (plus bonus 2x7" Sycamore comp) reissuing a whole bunch of late-80s/early-90s emotive indie rock. Everything here has been released before, but surprisingly, given my collection, I only owned one of the 7"s. Many of the others, I had on other formats, but also, many of the rest were new to me. I could nit-pick and say that this collection over-represents 1993 and California. It tends to get a bit repetetive in the middle, but there are some real gems. Top notch include some Hated, Unwound, and I think my favorite 7" (At least today) is The Lazarus Plot. I also really dig the Rye Coalition song -- how did they turn from that into their later AC/DC phase?

Anyway, I am going to paste the tracklist here because it's lengthy:

Carpe Diem - No Merge
Carpe Diem - Carpe Diem
Carpe Diem - Turning Over
The Hated - Underground 
The Hated - Not Mine
The Hated - Damned Heart
The Hated - Psalm
Wind of Change - Rain
Wind of Change - How I Feel
The Vagrants - Open Book
The Vagrants - Gone
The Vagrants - Alone
Chino Horde - Merit
Chino Horde - Racket
Unwound - You Bite My Tongue
Unwound - Kid Is Gone (Chant of Vengeance)
Unwound - Understand and Forget
Native Nod - Bread
Native Nod - High Tide in Alaska
Native Node - Back to Mimsey
Universal Order of Armageddon - Sympton
Universal Order of Armageddon - Visible Distance
Universal Order of Armageddon - Flux
Clikatat Ikatowi - Saxby's Gail
Clikatat Ikatowi - Off to Here
Pot Valiant - Volar
Pot Valiant - Low Dexterity Points
Boys Life - Lister
Boys Life - Without Doubt
Thumbnail - Parallels
Thumbnail - Split Decision
Thumbnail - Shirts and Skins
Thumbnail - Burning Bridges
Mohinder - The Mission
Mohinder - Alien
Mohinder - Division
Mohinder - Acceptance
Mohinder - The Static Cult
Mohinder - Beautiful
Mohinder - One Warrior
Mohinder - Expiration
Indian Summer - Aren't You Angel
Indian Summer - mm.
Indian Summer - Woolworm
Boilermaker - Used to Be
Boilermaker - Besame Mucho You Fucker
Allure - Little Engine
Allure - Rise and Run
Patterns Make Sunrise - Silo Concordance
Patterns Make Sunrise - Quilceda Creek
Patterns Make Sunrise - So As To
Patterns Make Sunrise - Light to Your Heart
Don Martin Three - Katahdn
Don Martin Three- Inefficient Engine
Current - Basis
Current - Repetition
Current - Continued Rantings
Current - Overbearing
Karate - Cherry Coke
Karate - The Schwinn
Bells on Trike - I Drive
Bells on Trike - The Old Adam
The Lazarus Plot - Friday the Thirteenth
The Lazarus Plot - Confessions to An Early Summer Nightmare
The Lazarus Plot - Dissolving Substance
The Lazarus Plot - Sleepwalker
The Lazarus Plot - Ending Time
The Lazarus Plot - Goodbye, Again
Eldritch Anisette - Suckerpunch
Eldritch Anisette - Pessimism Goes to Work
Eldritch Anisette - Dissection of Silence
Everyone Asked About You - Paper Airplanes, Paper Hearts
Everyone Asked About You - Me Vs. You
Everyone Asked About You - It's Days Like This That Make Me Wish the Summer Lasted Forever
Everyone Asked About You - Everyone Asked About You
Cars Get Crushed - Warped Speed
Cars Get Crushed - Hey Sister Vampire

Frail - Drought
Rye Coalition - Don T. Nils
Endive - 10,000 Dead Roses
Ethel Meserve - Calba's Last

2025: Top 5 Miscellaneous Songs

 

 (generally, the best five songs not on the other two lists. Either new in 2025, or new to me)

5. Storey Littleton - At a Diner

single release
Don Giovanni, 5/2025

Passing the torch to the next generation. This is the debut single from Storey, who is the daughter of Dan and Liz from Ida. Storey played guitar for Ida on this year's reunion tour, and they played this new song of hers, which is sweet and beautiful. Storey got her start as a kid singing on her mom's children's albums. Looking forward to hearing more from Storey.

 

4. I Is Another - Queen of Swords

 

From "I Is Another"
Siren Records, 2013

I saw a pair of fun Jonah Matranga shows this year, and learned about this 2013 project from Jonah (also of Far, Onelinedrawing, and New End Original). This is a rocker that stacks up to the best of Jonah's songs. I like the guitar textures in this song.

3. U2 - The Fool

 

Recorded circa 1979. Released online as "Early Demos"
Island Records, 2004

U2 seem to be sheepish about their early stuff, but I think they were a top notch new wave / post punk band. This is a song that had disappeared from their setlist by the time their first album Boy was released. Apparently Island slipped three demo songs in some massive $200 download package back in 2004. I missed it. Fans of early early u2 should also check out the recording of their National Stadium gig in 1980.

2. Catherine Wheel - Dead Girl Friend

From the I Want to Touch You EP
Fontana Records, 1992

Speaking of pre-first-album songs, this is an early early B-side from one of Catherine Wheel's first EPs. This song is creepy. I love it. Not sure what the lyrics mean exactly, but I'm a bit scared to know. All I know is this is great gaze-pop.

  1. Samuel - Evergreen

From Pohgoh / Samuel Split 10"
New Granada Records, 10/2025

Samuel was a 90s band that released a handful of great songs, including a split 7" with Texas Is the Reason. They reunited a few years ago, reissued their old stuff, and rechristened their band Samuel S.C. (South Carolina? Santa Claus?) -- In the discogs age, I guess that beats Samuel (8), but I'm not calling them SC. I guess they released a new album, too, which I have not heard yet, but now I want to very badly. Anyway, this song is a stompin' good time with hooks galore. I love it. The story's getting old, we're just getting old with it.

2024: Top 5 New Albums

2024 was a good year for music. Some very good albums and songs didn't make these lists.

5. Eyelids - No Jigsaw

Jealous Butcher Records, 03/2024

The Eyelids are something pretty special. This Portland-based supergroup has been churning out the powerpop hits for 10 years. This 2-LP compilation of singles, one-offs, covers, and oddities is my favorite release by them. And it's a testament to how musically good 2024 was that this comes in at #5. This would probably be #1 in other years. 

Many of these songs have been covered in past years on this blog. Among the slices of pure power-pop goodness, there are also some really strange things here. A cover of The Fall sounding... just like The Fall. Peter Buck (R.E.M.'s famously silent guitar player) singing? This is a super fun album and worth your time.

 

4. Suburban Eyes

 

Spartan Records, 08/2024

A new album and band from Eric Richter of Christie Front Drive (and Antarctica), Jeremy Gomez from Mineral, and John Anderson from Boys Life. Does not sound much like Christie Front Drive, Mineral, or Boys Life.

What it does sound like, however, is a less electronic Antarctica, and if you are a fan (like I am), this one is great.

Good solid rock songs. Nothing flashy or intrusive, but good solid tunes. I don't have a lot of words about this. Instead, you should just listen to it.

3. Bonnie Prince Billy, Nathan Salsburg, and Tyler Trotter - Hear the Children Sing the Evidence

 

No Quarter Records, 05/2024

Viva la Lungfish.

I collect Lungfish covers, because I love Lungfish songs. Lungfish songs are so interesting-- It's as if they're songs turned on their side. If most music is horizontal, Lungfish songs are vertical.

This fun record is two typical one-chord Lungfish covers, but presented in an atypical manner. These songs are stretched to their absolute logical conclusion, clocking in at over 20 minutes apiece. That's one song per side of the LP. Bonnie Prince Billy's voice is well-suited for these mantra-songs. The music is hypnotic. It grooves. It's vastly wide and deep.

2. Symmetry/Symmetry - Interference

self-released, 10/2024

Oregon's answer to Radiohead. Symmetry/Symmetry surprised us with a new LP this year (It's been 10 years since their last EP). This one is in heavy rotation on my turntable right now, and I can't say enough good things about the band. Fantastic musicianship. Great songs. Hints of prog and white-boy-blues, but more interesting and tuneful than either. "All We Know" would make a decent James Bond theme. Do yourself a favor and check this whole album out. 

I also can't stop talking about Symmetry/Symmetry's Christmas/Christmas album, which gets tons of play at our house each December, and is in my top-3-of-all-time Christmas records.

1. The Cure - Songs of a Lost World

 

Fiction Records, 11/2024

The last time The Cure released an album, I was childless. Now, I have teenagers that can listen to this. (Not that they would want to. Hating your parents' music is part of growing up.)

This album is very very good. Of course, nothing can match The Cure's creative peak in the 1980s, but I attempted the pointless exercise of ranking my top 10 favorite Cure albums, and this album surprisingly made it into the top 10. In my (admittedly biased and limited) experience, I don't know of any other artist producing work this good into their 60s. Heck, most artists aren't this good in their 30s.

Among other things, this album is a testament to brevity and editing. I'm sure Robert Smith &co wrote many many songs over the past 16 years, but they edited it down to these 8. These 8 songs are very, very good. Contrast this to all the mediocre late-career albums put out by so many bands. This is a great coda to a band I saw described as "The Led Zeppelin of Alternative Rock"

This isn't the album that would convince anyone to be a new Cure fan, but if you can see past the makeup and hear the gorgeous songwriting, the inventive guitar, the driving bass, the cascading rhythms, this is a great Cure album. These songs were great live, too.

2024: Top 5 New Discoveries

(5 favorite albums from 2022 or prior that I discovered this year)

5. Purplene

Spunk Records, 2004

I don't listen to enough music from Australia. According to Wikipedia, Purplene were "one of Australia's most respected rock groups". I hadn't heard of them until 20 years after this LP was released. This is great American Football-influenced twinkle indie, with some interesting math-rock undercurrents. They recorded this in the US with Steve Albini (RIP), whose crystal-clear production makes this record shine. (Albini's band Shellac made last year's #1 before he died)

 

4. The Apples in Stereo - The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone

   

SpinART Records, 04/2000

Perfect turn-of-the-millenium indie pop. I'm ashamed and embarrassed that it took me so long to listen to this album. I had Stream Running Over on one of my favorite mixtapes back in 2000. I even saw the Apples on this tour back in early 2001, and they were fantastic. The Apples in Stereo opened for Man or Astro-man. I sadly bought a Man or Astro-man T-shirt instead of the Apples in Stereo album. I still have the T-shirt, but I wore holes in the armpits. I wish I'd bought the Moone instead.

3. Harry Belafonte - Calypso

   

RCA Victor, 1956

A neighbor had an estate sale, and I rummaged through the old old records, and I found this one. I bought it as a Beetlejuice soundtrack.

(the scene, for reference :)

...and it does make a fine Beetlejuice soundtrack, but this album is so much more. Belafonte holds this whole thing together by force of personality, and it makes a fun listen regardless. I get a bit tired of the weird little flute that happens in half the songs, but that's a small nit-pick. This album is thoroughly enjoyable, start to finish.

 

2. Hot Snakes - Suicide Invoice

 

Sub Pop, 06/2002

Hard hitting rock and roll from Swami John Reis of Drive Like Jehu and Rocket from the Crypt. Hits all the right rocknroll buttons that bands like Q and Not U hit. This one rocks.

1. Wild Tchoupitoulas

 

Mango Records, 1976

Say "Chop-it-too-luz".

Mardi Gras Indians. I have no cultural connection to this. I've never been to New Orleans, never celebrated Mardi Gras, and I am generally ignorant about all the cultural things going on there. Now that I've discovered this, I'm fascinated, and I've gone down a few youtube rabbit holes, but I'm sure I'm getting a lot wrong.

Anyway, here's the situation as I understand it: Every Mardi Gras, these New Orleans street gangs go out parading. They spend a lot of money and effort to dress like caricatures of native americans, but with way more spangles, color, and glitter. They posture and get into knife fights. There's a hierarchy, with a Chief, as well as Flag Boys and Spy Boys, which are somehow ranks within the gang. They also...sing?

Somehow, everyone in New Orleans (or at least Chief Jolly, who is lead singer for the Tchoupitoulas) all talk like Ray the Firefly from Princess and the Frog, and spit all these strange creole-isms. Hey too-way-pocky-way! Jock-a-mo fina ney! Koona-hoona! etc.

This particular Mardi Gras tribe wasn't the first to record their music, but this tribe contains all 4 Neville brothers and most of The Meters, who later became very important to jazz and funk music, but again, this is way outside my realm of knowledge. (It's true. I don't know much).

This music, though. It's SO GOOD. It's a weird amalgamation of almost every american genre (Soul, Funk, Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Rock), with some west-african and caribbean thrown in there as well. It's almost as if this is the absolute geographical center of music. I dunno, but it's good. I guess I'm a sucker for the funky rhythmic bounce and the call-and-response vocals.

I feel like this is what the Talking Heads must have been listening to from 1980 through the end of their run. If you take Remain in Light, and add ever-increasing doses of Wild Tchoupitoulas, you get Speaking in Tongues, Little Creatures, True Stories, and Naked.

I also find it odd that the Tchoupitoulas didn't record what is apparently the most popular Mardi Gras Indian song, the oft-covered Iko Iko. (original version, most popular version, hippie version, 80s version from my childhood).

I truly love this album, and these Wild Tchoupitoulas songs keep popping up at random into my head. Indians coming-- get out de way!

 

2024: Top 5 Miscellaneous Songs

 (generally, the best five songs not on the other two lists. Either new in 2024, or new to me. 2024 was such a bumper crop of good new music, that this year's list is 100% newly released songs.)

5. Kim Deal - Coast

from "Nobody Loves You More"
4AD, 11/2024

A new Kim Deal solo album. I haven't heard the whole album yet, but I want to. This song was released in advance of the new album, and it's really good.

I believe "Nobody Loves You More" was the last thing Steve Albini worked on before his untimely passing this past May. Albini's sound always surprises me because it's not always harsh noise-rock. He recorded Low and Bedhead, for goodness sakes. This recording has horns! But it clearly sounds really good.

This song was apparently inspired by a bad cover of Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville". Like him or hate him, you have to admit, that song is a vibe. This song is also a vibe-- not the same vibe as Margaritaville, maybe a mirror image.

Now, if somebody could just tell me what "Someone must've checked the WAM" means...

 

4. The Decemberists - Oh No!

 

From "As It Ever Was, So It Shall Be Again"
YABB Records, 06/2024

The Decemberists return with this fun ... uhh ... tango? foxtrot? whiskey? I'm not so up on my dance beats. Anyway, this song is certainly Decemberists. You almost need a thesaurus to decode the lyrics, but it's just a lot of fun. The new album is great, and there are several classic classic songs on there. This is one of them.

3. Mary Timony - Untame the Tiger

 

Title track of the album "Untame the Tiger"
Merge Records 02/2024

Sometimes the simple ones are the best. This song starts with 100 seconds of Mary Timony's usual alternate-tuning guitar playing a typically atmospheric, off-kilter Mary Timony melody. All of a sudden, the drums kick in with a 4/4 beat and the song turns into a simple, catchy I-IV-V pop song. The chorus is instrumental-- just a guitar hook. Super simple, and it works. Reminds me of "Hey Ya!".

2. Jack White - Archbishop Harold Holmes

From "No Name"
Third Man Records, 08/2024

Jack White should write a Broadway show. He's got the patter-song down cold. This stomper is from his new album No Name, which, in my (not very expert) opinion, is the best Jack White material since Get Behind Me Satan back in 2008. This whole album rocks hard, and this rapid-fire song is the best on there.

  1. Sunny Day Real Estate - Novum Vetus

From Diary Live at London Bridge Studios
Sub Pop Records 05/2024

I sure didn't expect a new Sunny Day song in 2024. This album is... meh. Diary is a classic. Rerecording Diary produced an inferior copy. But THIS SONG. 

So, this song was apparently started (or written) during the How It Feels sessions (circa '98), and it would fit well on that album. Live, it stretched out and breathed, and was a highlight of the show. This song is epic, sweeping, and beautiful. Doesn't overstay its 7 minutes. Long live Sunny Day. They have released 2 songs since 2000, but each song is worth 12 years of wait.

P.S. -- apparently, Novum Vetus rhymes with Diabeetus.

2023: Top 5 New Albums

Here we are with my annual tradition of top-5 albums.

A reminder about methodology: Top 5 albums were released in 2022 or 2023 (I sometimes don't buy music fast enough, OK?) . Then I rank 5 best new-to-me albums I encountered in the past year, and 5 miscellaneous songs that don't fit in the first two top-5 lists.

5. Built to Spill - When the Wind Forgets Your Name

Sub Pop, 09/2022

This was heavily promoted when it came out. I saw targeted facebook ads, silly youtube spots, etc. It's Built to Spill's 12th-ish album. Took me a bit to pick it up (I'd say the cover art is a bit off-putting). It's ... okay. It's the okayest Built to Spill album. They haven't made a bad album (although I don't really dig their Daniel Johnston collab too much). It's just that lately, every album seems a bit... less. 

In the mid-2000s, Built to Spill had settled into a stable 5-piece lineup: Martsch/Roth/Nelson/Netson/Plouf. Their live shows sounded fantastic. Live versions of old songs seemed perfect. Doug Martsch teased that the 5 of them had written songs as a group and they were great, but they were working through Doug Martsch solo compositions, and the next album would be a group effort. Then, the next one wasn't (more old songs), but the next one... and these songs never materialized. (I also remember similar rumors in the early 2000s about a 4th Halo Benders album. 

Then, lineup changes, pandemic, politics... and only Doug remains. I have a friend who insists the new 3-piece lineup of Built to Spill is the tightest, best yet. I skipped the show, so I couldn't say.

I will say that an OK Built to Spill album beats out some other bands at their peak. That's the amount of love I have for Built to Spill. (And I always think Idahoans, not Koreans, when someone mentions BTS.)

 

 

4. Brainiac - The Predator Nominate EP

 

Touch and Go Records, 05/2022

Tim Taylor died in 1997, leaving behind a band that was so far ahead of its time, we could dig up a cassette demo 25 years later and it would sound fresh. This is not peak Brainiac, it's about 8 not-fleshed-out song ideas, but it's great. For a while there, the Brainiac documentary was free to watch on Youtube. Sadly, no longer, although you may have luck on Tubi or Pluto for free.

3. Eyelids - A Colossal Waste of Light

 

Jealous Butcher Records, 03/2023

Portland's own Eyelids are on a hot streak. All their music is fantastic. Their live shows rip. They collaborate with everyone across the indie world (This album has Peter Buck from R.E.M. recording and playing on it). I can't say enough great things about Eyelids. They've shown up in this list before.

Why is this album not #1? Maybe because they set such a high bar with their previous albums? Maybe because two of the best songs on this album were released on a 7" a year before, so I'm less excited about them? I don't know. Prediction for 2023, though: their 2-LP singles collection "No Jigsaw" is due out in March, and I bet it's tops.

2. Casey Neill and the Norway Rats - Sending Up Flares

Fluff and Gravy Records, 09/2023

Casey Neill apparently started his career playing irish folk music. Any stray into indie pop was purely coincidental. Now, Casey Neill is a veteran, has an established combo filled with talented Portlanders (including a Decemberist), and makes world weary, Springsteenian (is that a word?) catchy musical stories about interesting characters. This is a solid album and good listen start to finish. My only complaint is that it doesn't have "Siphoners" on it, which has been stuck in my head since 2018.

1. The Van Pelt - Artisans and Merchants

 

La Castanya Records, 03/2023

WARNING: not as good as The Van Pelt's two classic 1990s albums. Somehow, those two albums have remained timeless. "Talk Rock" still sounds as vital in the 2020s as it did back then.

BUT... this is still pretty cool stuff from those same kids, now very much adults. There's some fun 90s reminiscence underpinning "Punk House" and "Grid", and there's something so catchy about shouting "Incredible Kegstands!" along with the music. But there's also some growth. Several songs ("We Gotta Leave", "Love Is Brutal") shed the talk-rock entirely for mellow, lightly-sung, less high-strung narrative. And it's great. take a listen.

2023: Top 5 New Discoveries

(5 favorite albums from 2021 or prior that I discovered this year)

5. Sugar - Copper Blue

Rykodisc, 09/1992

2023: The year Alex re-discovers the 90s! No, I remember reading about Copper Blue when it came out in some magazine or other (Probably Spin. Let's call it Spin.), but in the 90s, you couldn't just hear the music you wanted to, particularly if US radio refused to play it. This was 1992 album of the year for the N.M.E. in England. Anyway, I saw this CD's bluish case in the record store a time or two, but never shelled out the $$ to hear it. I wish I had. This is top-notch 90s pop. Maybe not as anthemic as Husker Du's "New Day Rising", but smoother and more radio friendly. Which again, makes me wonder why they didn't play this on the radio.

 

4. Smashing Pumpkins - Adore

   

Virgin Records, 06/1998

OK don't kill me. For some unusual personal circumstances, I had never heard this album until 2023. Pre-Adore, I was a Smashing Pumpkins fan. I didn't pony up the insane amount for "The Aeroplane Flies High", but if you have a friend who does, skip Pistachio Medley and the A-sides, it makes an insanely good 100-minute cassette.

I have even heard Ava Adore on the radio, but for reasons, I didn't get Adore when it was released. Soon, the general opinion was that it was OK, not great, and the world moved on from Smashing Pumpkins. Billy Corgan slowly morphed into Uncle Fester, and eventually broke up the band.

...And a few years later, I heard "Zeitgeist" when it came out, and that was bad; so I just never felt the need to revisit Adore.

Turns out, it's a pretty good album. I also heard Machina for the first time this year. It's a good-but-not-quite-great album. Maybe 2024 will bring Machina II and Judas Ø to my ears. who knows?

3. The Breeders - All Nerve

   

4AD Records, 03/2018

Good morning!

More 90s. Yay for the Breeders. Everything the Breeders do sounds good, but one of the problems with their later-period albums was that most of the songs sounded like half-a-song-idea that wasn't really fleshed out. This album fixes that. These are good songs that deserve to be spun alongside Last Splash and Safari and Pod.

2. The Cranberries - Something Else

 

BMG, 03/2017

An irish band, rereleasing mellower versions of their old catalog. Sound familiar? It could be argued that this record, which came out in 2017, was the Cranberries running out of ideas. It's 10 chamber-pop rerecordings of songs from their first 4 albums plus 3 new chamber-pop songs that fit right in. In hindsight, given the problems that Dolores O'Riordan was having, it's a miracle we get to hear these anyway. I find myself a bit saddened with the realization that I will never get to see the Cranberries live. 

So why is this album so good, and U2's Songs of Surrender so bad? (trust me, it's not good) For one, personal taste. Also, Dolores and the Cranberries seem genuinely into these versions. The songs are road-worn and comfortable. The new songs fit in pretty well, and the string section floats effortlessly through the whole thing. There was love and care and effort in the recording. The U2 project was mostly the Edge during the pandemic, going stir-crazy and recording mellow keyboard versions of songs that didn't need reinventing, with little input from the rest of the band.

Anyway, if you're a Cranberries fan, check this album out. It's growing on me each time I listen to it.

  1. Shellac - The End of Radio

 

Touch and Go Records, 06/2019

Radio One! Play the drums!

 A 12-track, 2-LP collection of two Peel Sessions Shellac did in 1994 and 2004. These have been floating around for some time (particularly the 1994 session), but in this format, they sound FANTASTIC. Shellac has always been about good sound, and in some ways, their music sounds like what the platonic ideal of what rock and roll guitar, bass, drums, and vocals should sound like. A bit dirty, a bit angry, but perfect.

This record encompasses all there is to love about Shellac. This is now Shellac's best album. These songs sound fantastic. Live, they stretch out and breathe. Sure, you could argue with the tracklisting. We don't need Canada twice. It really could use Copper and Wingwalker (and Didn't We Deserve, if you like punishment). But this record is perfect sound. Hear it on LP. It's stunning.

(buy on LP from Touch and Go Records here)

2023: Top 5 Miscellaneous Songs

 (The best five songs not on the other two lists. Either new in 2023, or new to me.)

5. Royal Blood - Boilermaker

from "Typhoons"

Warner, 04/2021

I was dragged to a Royal Blood show and had a great time. I didn't really know this band beforehand, but I'll be paying closer attention now. Recommended if you like your stripes white, your keys black, and your duo-jets flat.

 

4. Jason Isbell - Death Wish

 

From "Weathervanes"
Southeastern Records, 06/2023

Less capital-C Country, and more ... uhh.. Springsteenian (there's that word again!) storytelling from mister Isbell. I'm assuming that by 2023 almost everybody knows who Jason Isbell is. He seems like a champion of the downtrodden and underrepresented in real life, too... which makes him cooler than 30-50 feral hogs in my book.

3. They Might Be Giants - Alphabet of Nations [Extended Version]

 

From the deluxe edition (only) of "No!"
Idlewild Recordings 6/2012

I didn't think this song had a chance against the other good songs in this list... until I played it loud. These guys are REALLY selling it. They're into it. just listen. Technically, this is a re-recording, as the song also appears (in a shorter, more muted version) on 2004's "Here Come the ABCs", but John and John are so EXUBERANT! Really singing the hell out of this one. They sound excited about Oman and Pakistan, and, heck. Maybe they're right. We should all be so excited. I think my next vacation will be to West Xylophone.

2. Jimmy Eat World - Firestarter

From the "Last Christmas" 7"
Better Looking Records, 12/2001

Recorded in the Bleed American sessions, yes, it's THAT Firestarter. In hindsight, this doesn't seem long enough after The Prodigy came out for a cover. I don't have enough of the original song in my head-- It's just that creepy-eyed english bloke with the bad haircut shouting "Twisted Firestarter" and some keyboard sound effects, and the dude brushing the bugs out of his hair:

Yeah, that's it. 

Anyway, this is a cool cover, because it sounds like peak Jimmy Eat World. And I love whatever noise/drone is going on in the background. Adds to the tension of the song.

  1. Landing - Awake

From the Awake / Gravitational X Digital Single

Vast Arc Hues, 10/2023

A one-off single from Landing late in the year, and one of the catchiest songs they've ever written. This one just hits all the right notes for me. I don't know if it works for anybody else, but this I dig. It conjures sunshine, driving with the windows down, and this drifting out of the car windows.

2022: Top 5 New Albums

I'm now 10 years into doing this. Why stop now?

5. Pony Camp

 

self-released,10/28/2022

So, I believe the story goes something like this (although I could be wrong) -- Early in the pandemic, The Lowest Pair (aka Kendl Winter and Palmer Lee) went up into the mountains to camp and work on some songs with some friends-- a perfectly healthy, pandemic-friendly activity. Yet, because so many others had the same idea, the only place they could get to camp was a HORSE CAMP. And thus was their project named. As they were working on their HORSE CAMP songs, Kendl was also working on an electronic side-project with one of those friends, Adam Roszkewicz, and since it was a side project, it became PONY camp. At least that's what I think it is.

Anyway, it's fun to hear Kendl's songs outside of their normal banjo-tastic trappings. It's strange and fun to hear autotune on her vocals (Passwords), but I'd say this was one of those projects that works a little better on paper than it does in real life. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy this tape, but it's not as good as a Lowest Pair album.

 

4. Codeine - Dessau

   

The Numero Group, 09/02/2022

So, this should have been Codeine's 2nd album, "The White Birch". In fact, the artwork on the cover is named "The White Birch", which is the namesake and should have been the album cover for "The White Birch". Confusing enough?

Anyway, well through the sessions for this album, bassist Stephen Immerwahr kept hearing high-frequency noise (which may or may not actually be there) on the tracks, and scrapped the album for good.

Most of these songs ended up on "Barely Real" or "The White Birch". But this is the missing link. I love listening to the power of these songs.

3. The Lowest Pair and Small Town Therapy - Horse Camp

   

self-released 10/26/2022 

Like I said earlier, HORSE CAMP. Anyways, this is Palmer and Kendl with a full band -- generally guit/fiddle/mandolin/banjo that doesn't sound too far out from what Lowest Pair usually sounds like.

In fact, that's my best and worst thing I can say about this record. It's good. It doesn't sound too far from what a Lowest Pair record should sound like (which is amazing, don't get me wrong), but there's nothing too ambitious or different here. In fact, I would steer newcomers to the Lowest Pair to Perfect Plan or 36 cents. Nevertheless, this is a fine addition to the canon.

2. Afghan Whigs - How Do You Burn?

 

Royal Cream, 09/09/2022

Dulli's hair is going gray (so's mine!) and we're all getting older. Yet, this is a fun new Afghan Whigs album. There are lots of good and listenable songs on here. This is apparently Mark Lanegan's last recorded output, but he's unfortunately relegated to blink-and-you-miss-em background vocals, so no Gutter Twins II here. Also notable is "Domino and Jimmy", featuring Marcy Mays (lead singer of Scrawl, probably best known for her wicked vocals on Afghan Whigs' "My Curse" from 1993). This one's a fun duet. Check out some of the other bangers on this album like "Jyja" and "A Line of Shots".

1. Pohgoh - Du und Ich

 

Spartan Records 11/4/2022

Spartan Records has been on a roll the last few years. And Pohgoh? Breaking up in '97 only to release super amazing records 20 years later? Oh yes.

So this is Pohgoh's 3rd album. Solid rock and roll, great dynamics, perfect sound forever. And I love Susie's lyrics. She sings the things that are important to her-- not typical rock-and-roll, but a slice of her life and all the more important for it. A few of the songs are about her struggles with MS, but so many of the songs are about things we all go through--"Now I Know", quitting a job. "Heavy", struggles with self-image. She may say "Words are Harder", but somehow they sound effortless. Thanks, Pohgoh.

2022: Top 5 New Discoveries

(5 favorite albums from 2020 or prior that I discovered this year)

5. Cocteau Twins - Blue Bell Knoll

 

4AD Records, 09/1988

Ahh, a Cocteau Twins record. Early this year, I found myself planning a trip to the wilds of Southern Utah, and falling down a wikipedia rabbit hole, I discovered that the Cocteau Twins named an album after someplace I was visiting. So, with a very valid excuse, I tracked down this album and bought it as a soundtrack to a very fun road trip. 

I can't say enough good things about this classic Cocteau Twins album. Pretty melodies, alien words, silly song titles like "A Kissed-out Red Floatboat", and "For Phoebe Still a Baby". I need to pick up more classic Cocteau Twins, and this time I don't need a roadtrip as an excuse.

 

4. Codeine - Barely Real

   

Sub Pop Records, 11/1992

This is my year for Codeine. I was unaware this brilliant 6-song EP even existed. This has some powerful tunes. It may even be my favorite Codeine release. (don't hold me to that, I love them all)

3. Cat Power - Speaking for Trees

   

Matador Records

CD/DVD released 10/2004 

So, I remember when this came out. I remember reading reviews of it, and it sounded boring: One long (loooooooong) static shot of Chan Marshall playing outdoors. Nothing else.

I stumbled into this on Youtube, looking for something to listen to during my workday. I loved it. I realized that the visual isn't the point. This is great music. And the music is only half of it. The music is overwhelmed by the sound of high summer-- the insects and the wind. 

 This is from the same era of the one and only time I saw Cat Power live. She cycles through some of her songs, some covers, and mashes some covers and some of her songs together. She plays the same series of songs over as many as 3 or 4 times.

There's also a second audio CD with an 18 minute version of Willie, which got cut down to song-length for her next album The Greatest.

This is a fun listen, and this is peak Cat Power.

2. Verse en Coma - Rialto

 

Robotic Empire, 2008

It took me one listen through one song to order this EP. (It's available on 10"/CD on Bandcamp for a reasonable price). This is driving, intense, lyrical music. Many of the songs reference the Olympic Peninsula in the lyrics (which is my favorite place in the world). Soaring choruses, driving guitars. I love this so very much.

So these guys were apparently also in City of Caterpillar. I checked out their stuff this year and also liked it, but maybe not quite as much as I love this Verse en Coma record.

  1. Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom

 

Slash/Warner Bros Records, 09/1994

It strikes me as odd that I've gone so long without hearing this album. I own "Irresistible Bliss", their 1996 follow up. I was just under the mistaken impression that I only needed one Soul Coughing album in my life. This album is the epitome of cool. Most of the time I don't even know what's going on with all the samples/upright bass/jazz drumming/nonsense words, but I know it's cooler than I'll ever be. My good friend David has been a Soul Coughing freak for years, yet somehow I let this one slip until now. That has been corrected.

2022: Top 5 Miscellaneous Songs

(The best five songs not on the other two lists. Either new in 2022, or new to me.)

5. Sparta - Until the Kingdom Comes

 

from Sparta's self-titled fifth album

Dine Alone, 10/2022

A dearly-missed friend turned me on to Sparta a few years ago. Jim Ward is a former member of At the Drive In, and he makes melodic, driving post-hardcore music. Jim recently (like 2019?) took back up the Sparta mantle, and this is the result.

I would no longer classify this as post-hardcore (not that labels really matter anyway), but this is BIG music. This occupies the same strata as big rock albums. It's a Weezer Blue. It's an Achtung Baby. This is Music for the Masses in the best way possible. Have a listen and see for yourself.

 

4. Typhoon - No One Will Dance

   

From the "Underground Complex No.1" EP
Roll Call Records, 04/2022 

It must be hard to be a member of Typhoon. Even middling indie success probably won't pay the bills when split 13 ways. I've been following Typhoon for at least 15 years, and they peaked at 13 members once or twice. Now I think they're down to 6 or 7 and that's sort of sad. Less is sometimes more, but not at a Typhoon concert.  Typhoon's power has always been derived from the number of kids on stage pouring their hearts into the music.

In more recent years, as their numbers have dwindled, the bright sparks on Typhoon's records have come fewer and farther between. Nevertheless, there are some great songs on this EP, and this song is one of them. Also, I got to see them in Monmouth, Oregon for a one-off show this December, and several former bandmembers guested. The player count was temporarily up to 8, and the show was quite good. 

They didn't play this song at the show, which was a shame. I love the moment in this song where Kyle sings the line "a song that no one will dance to...", and the rhythm immediately switches to an amorphous waltz time that is... impossible to dance to. Perfect.

3. The Decemberists - Better Not Wake the Baby

   

From the album "What a Terrible World, What a Wonderful World"
Capitol Records, 01/2015

2022 was Year of the Decemberists in our house. Our 13-year-old decided that The Decemberists were his favorite band. As a result, we added several Decemberists albums to the collection, and saw them in concert.

This song is 1:44 of classic Decemberists. Folky instrumentation, catchy tune, slightly old-fashioned and wordy sounding, with some borderline-ridiculous lyrics. Light, fun, and silly. Yeah, sounds a bit like The Wellerman, but who's counting?

2. The Arcade Fire - The Lightning I/II

 

From the album "We"
Columbia Records, 05/2022

I'm a sucker for two-parter songs. This is a fun one. A great performance on SNL this year, too. I'm not a big Arcade Fire guy, but this song is a banger.

To mention the current unsavory allegations against Win Butler-- we're certainly in an age where we can separate art from the artist. That being said, I think this sort of allegation would be better proven or disproven in a court of law. As it stands, I tend to disbelieve anything Pitchfork publishes, especially about bands that Pitchfork singlehandedly put on a pedestal.

  1. Tom Jones and The Cardigans - Burning Down the House

 

From Sir Tom Jones' "Reload" album
Gut/V2 Records, 09/1999

Wh..what just happened? Was that The Cardigans, fresh off their international superhit Lovefool, doing a classic Talking Heads cover with Sir Tom Jones (AKA "Theme Song Guy!")?

This would've been a fun, interesting cover with the Cardigans OR Tom Jones. Getting both at the same time feels like.. cheating. It's like somebody pushed up up down down left right left right BA start, and reality gave us Tom Jones, the Cardigans, and Talking Heads.

Top 5 New Albums 2021

Even through two years of plague, I'm still making my top lists for the year. Methodology is the same as it's been for the last few years: 

• Top 5 albums released 2020/21
  
• Top 5 albums I discovered older than that
  
• Top 5 songs not contained in the top 5 elsewhere

I'm glad to have largely avoided the live-over-zoom fad for this list. Lack of access to shows and record stores means that I didn't listen to very much new material this year, but the competition for old stuff was a little more heated. Anyway... to the lists:

5. Caithlin DeMarrais - What Will You Do Then?

Skeletal Lightning Records, 02/2021

Caithlin of Rainer Maria's 3rd solo LP.

This album sounds really modern and spacey. Even if I haven't kept up with the times, Caithlin has. These are some great songs. My favorite is "Good Luck Come Back" which was on last year's split 7" with Pohgoh. Worth a trip with headphones.

 

4. The Hold Out - Won't Be Leaving Here Today

Self-Released 12/2021
 

Rock solid rock and roll from Portland rock and rollers. Every album Andi and company have put out in the last few years has made this top-5 list, and this one is no exception. I'm especially a fan of "Non Grata" where guitar player Aaron steps up to the mic to vocally spar with Andi Camp's soaring lead vocals.

I feel like I'm not writing enough words about this band. It's tough, because I just want you to listen to them and rock out.

In fact, this is one of the bands I'm most looking forward to seeing again post-covid. Here's hoping.

 

3. Radiohead - Kid Amnesiae

Self-Released, 11/2021
 

2001's Amnesiac album was (at the time) billed as leftovers from 2000's Kid A. Now, 20 years later, we get a slight LP with leftovers from the two.

...Not that I'm complaining. First, I liked Amnesiac better than Kid A. Thought the songs were better. Second, it's just more of a good thing. This maybe should've been a triple album all along.

That being said, Kid Amnesiae has a lot of filler. There are some early versions (Fog, Fast-Track, Morning Bell, and another beautiful version of Like Spinning Plates), some weird instrumental interludes that sound like they're stitched out of other pieces of Kid A and Amnesiac,

There's the two completely new songs that Radiohead teased us with: Follow Me Around and If You Say the Word -- both are decent Radiohead songs. The world has room for more decent Radiohead songs.

 ...and then...

...and then...

An alternate version of Pulk/Pull with True Love Waits sung over the top. Pulk/Pull IS True Love Waits!!! 

(And if you're not a Radiohead fan, this doesn't make any sense. If you are, it's like saying "Revolution #9" was a jammed-out version of "Revolution" ... except I think everybody knows that already.)

 

2. Modest Mouse - The Golden Casket

Epic Records, 06/21

I keep waiting for Modest Mouse to make a bad album. They haven't.

Sure, I think this one and 2015's Strangers to Ourselves aren't quite in the same league as their earlier stuff, but this is still good, fun, listenable rock. I saw them live at an outdoor concert in August. Going among so many people was probably ill-advised, and there were too darn many people there-- it set off my fear of crowds something awful. Nevertheless, it was a killer show. 

I haven't seen Modest Mouse in concert (apparently) since 2004. What I didn't realize is that in the intervening years, they got popular. Well, I kinda knew they got popular, but I didn't realize that theirs is a certain type of popularity-- the kind that makes 30-and 40-something drunk women go absolutely nuts when they hear "Float On". (Similar reactions can be seen with "Baby Got Back", and maybe Bon Jovi with a slightly older crowd)

Despite the crowd reaction, it was a good concert, and the new stuff held up well. There seems to be a consistent theme with the songs-- "We Are Between", "Back to the Middle" -- a longing for less extremism and more focus on common ground. I can get behind that. After all, we're somewhere between dust and the stars.

 

1. Low - Hey What

Sub Pop Records, 09/2021
 

A companion piece to 2019's Double Negative, Hey What sees Low, almost 30 years into their career, breaking new ground and making new sounds. Nothing sounds like Hey What. Nothing.

Where Double Negative was 100% blown out and distorted, the sound of a band deconstructing their own sound, Hey What takes that distortion-- still heavy, but spares the vocals. Instead, the vocals are up front and clear-- some of Low's most elegant harmonies over a harsh, distorted soundscape that makes the vocals sound more porcelain and pristine by comparison.

The album's centerpiece (and Hit) is "Days Like These". I can't explain what's going on with the instrumentation on this song. It's almost a capella. The vocals hold up on their own-- but when Mimi sings her parts, loud, distorted instruments peek through. It's some weird side-chain limiter stuff. It makes it almost sound like a broken vocoder or talk box. You should listen to it. 

8 years ago, I was convinced that Low was entering their Dad-rock, late-career downward coasting slope of their career arc. Instead, Low have put out their two most challenging records and are still making music that doesn't sound like anything else. That's high praise.

These songs seem to alternate between the domestic ("Don't Walk Away", "All Night") and the universal ("Days Like These", "Disappearing"). It's a rollercoaster of a listen, ending with the epic "The Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing Off)". 

Give this one a listen. It's pretty great.

Top 5 New Discoveries 2021

​ 5. Autoclave (Self-Titled)

​
Dischord Records. 
EP Released 1992
LP Released with bonus tracks 1997, reissued 2019.

Solid DC Grrl-punk-pop cuddlecore. Precursor to Slant 6 with Mary Timony of Helium on guitar. This record shreds in all the best ways.

This year's "Best Old Albums" category was hot competition, but Autoclave is very deserving of the #5 spot.

 

4. The Jealous Sound - A Gentle Reminder

   
Music Is Subjective Records, January 2012

It's taken me a while to get into Jealous Sound-- I was sort of aware of their existence throughout the 2000s, but that's it. I had a few Knapsack CDs (frontman Blair Sheehan's previous band), but I didn't know what I was missing. Too bad, huh? 

So it turns out Nate Mendel guests on bass on this album, knocking the Foo Fighters into 5th place in the list of Best Bands Nate Mendel Has Played In (don't forget Juno!)

This record keeps returning its pink self into my player, so I'm glad I finally caved and got this.

 

3. The Appleseed Cast - The Fleeting Light of Impermanence

 
Graveface Records, 06/2019

I first heard the band when they were called December's Tragic Drive (named after a Sunny Day Real Estate lyric). Their Marigold and Patchwork demo is amazing and outshines their first proper album. Can we be so old?

This record is synthy in places, but it works OK. The songs are still epic. The emotions are still longing, and the LP packaging is flat out beautiful, with a black matte case opening up to beautiful blue waves with a clear LP. I have tickets to see them live next month. Don't screw this up, Corona.

2. Helium - The Magic City / No Guitars

​
Matador Records.
No Guitars EP 04/1997
The Magic City LP 09/1997
combined reissue 2017 

I somehow missed Helium's second album the first time around. These are some fantastic 90s rock songs with Mary Timony's sense of melody and lyricism. Recently, I can't get enough of Mary Timony. Somehow she manages to twist a melody into something unexpected and...magical?

Please give a listen. Then buy the reissue from Matador here.

 

  1. Zak Sally's Fear of Song

Nero's Neptune Records, 2010

I ordered this record before the pandemic. The world has changed.

In the before-times, I lived astride the great Columbia River tax divide. Living in Washington, which has lower housing costs and property taxes, and commuting daily into Oregon, which has no sales tax. It was quite common for me to mail-order things to my work, in Oregon, where I wouldn't have to pay sales tax on the mail-orders.

I still live within sight of Oregon, but it's a rare day that I cross the bridge. I spent more than a year without reporting in to my office. At some point, I returned, and this Zak Sally LP was sitting in cardboard, still waiting for me at my desk. How strange. In retrospect, how sad that I spent the first year of the pandemic without this record.

Zak Sally was the bassist for the band Low from 1995 - 2006. This album is sonically similar to his final album with Low, The Great Destroyer. After listening to this album, you can hear the direction that Zak was trying to push the band.

In some press, Zak described his album as "The sound of one man clanging." The sound is appropriately minimal, but it doesn't let minimalism get in the way of a good squally noise. It sounds like broken fixtures and frayed wires. Songs are stripped to their bare bones, and something is always buzzing in the background.

This album is 9 songs that are over far too soon. Some of the sounds are loud, some are soft, but all are harsh. Song titles like "Corpsegrinder!" and the B-side "When I Said I Missed You I Just Meant My Aim Was Off" betray a sense of humor not found in the music.

In hindsight, if you combined this album with Low's first, I Could Live in Hope, you would get The Great Destroyer. 

It looks as if Zak hasn't been making much music lately-- focusing on raising kids and making comics. Here's hoping he sees fit to clang out some more...

Buy this LP at Nero's Neptune.

Top 5 Miscellaneous Songs 2021

(The best five songs that didn't make the other lists. Not necessarily new, but new to me.)

5. Landing - Home

 

From the Landing 2021 Monthly Subscription Series (July 2021)
Also available on the Landing 2021 Monthly Subscription Series Cassette

Self-Released, 07/2021

Dick Baldwin was a regular member of Landing from 1998 through 2005. His guitar lines were always the looping, arpeggiated counterpart to Aaron Snow's washes and drones. His solo releases, Dragon and Magicorn are magical and worth tracking down in their obscurity. Apparently, Señor Dick has been growing as a songwriter since 2005, and came back and contributed this absolute gem to Landing's 2021 monthly series. 

Shout-out to Landing for soundtracking an epic summer road trip as well. We trained our kids to fall asleep to the sounds of 2004's Sphere at obscenely early hours (6 PM on a sunny day!) so we could wake up and hit Yellowstone before the crowds every morning. They were often asleep before "Fluency of Colors" was finished.

Landing appears with regularity on this year-end list, but this song is absolute peak Landing.  I've linked the short, poppy version, but the soaring 8 minute version is worth tracking down as well.

 

4. Men Without Hats - Head Above Water

   

From the album "Love in the Age of War"
Self-Released (?) 05/2012 

A washed-up 80s relic. I saw Men Without Hats on tour in (about) 2012 and they put on a heck of a show. Overheard at the show:  A:"I only know one of their songs" B: "EVERYBODY only knows one of their songs!"

I've had the privilege of knowing more than one of their songs-- I've had a tape (later CD) of Men Without Hats since I was a teenager, and they have SEVERAL jams, each one better than the next. The show was high energy, joyful, self-deprecating, and one of the funnest happenings I remember in our sleepy town of Salem, Oregon. 

I picked up this 2012 album ("Love in the Age of War") with pretty modest expectations. I mean, this album was obviously made 30 years past its sell-by date. Those expectations were completely exceeded. This album is all about appreciating what you are (and if what you are is a 1980s throwback, own it!) 

So, the whole album is a nice set of earworms, and this song is the earwormiest. Highly recommended for anyone who doesn't get driven berserk by The Safety Dance. 

 

3. Primal Scream - Come Together

From "Screamadelica"
Creation Records, 1991

I realize I'm a bit late to the party with Primal Scream, 30 years...but I got there. For those who don't know, Primal Scream were a baggy, vaguely dancy british band from the late 80s/early 90s, often mentioned in the same breath as The Stone Roses.

The story with this song-- Primal Scream recorded a song that sounded vaguely like this called "Come Together". Then, as they were putting this album together, they brought some remixers in, presumably for 12" dance remixes and whatnot. So, Andrew Weatherall remixed Come Together. Took out the melody, the lyrics, and just kept the groove. And it grooves for DAYS. So, this remixed version is the one on the album, and the original ended up as a B-side. Good choice.

I could play this one on a loop in my head for hours.

2. Fairport Convention - Meet on the Ledge

 

From the album "What We Did on Our Holidays"
Island Records, 01/1969

2021 was the year I finally checked out Fairport Convention. I've heard several bands covering them (including Meet on the Ledge), and I've gotten into Richard Thompson, who was the guitar player for Fairport for their first 5 albums. Speaking of their first 5 albums, I picked them up on Amazon for a steal. 

This song is just one of those perfect hippy-dippy 1960s sing-alongs (like The Weight!). I think I need to learn the chords and words so that I can sing along too.

Apparently, Fairport Convention has reached the level of fame, etc. (at least in Britain) that they play one show a year-- they put on a festival in their hometown, and lots of famous bands come play as well, and Fairport plays about two sets, one weekend per year. That's the kind of musical retirement I want. I want to skip the hard parts and go right to the one-awesome-show-per-year phase of my musical career.

 1. Mission of Burma - This Is Not a Photograph

 

From the "Signals, Calls, and Marches" EP
Ace of Hearts Records, 1981

I'm probably 15 or 20 years too late to recommend "Our Band Could Be Your Life" by Michael Azzerad. Let me echo everyone else and say "go read it." (that means you, Jen.)

Again, 2021 is the year I finally got to hear Signals, Calls, and Marches. It's just as crucial as everyone says.

This song is a post-punk banger. Start to finish. I love the little Martin Swope touches throughout, but really noticable about 1:03. I assume that's Martin Swope. I love the idea of having one band member whose sole job it is to deconstruct the band's sound. I want to be that, except my band is a duo, and it just ends up as a fight.

I don't have as many words to say about this song, but it's #1 because I like it the most. Short, and sweet, and direct. Who needs more than 2 minutes?