Favorite Albums of 2017

50. Lilly Hiatt - Trinity Lane
49. Sinai Vessel - Brokenlegged
48. The New Pornographers - Whiteout Conditions
47. Perfume Genius - No Shape
46. Alvvays - Antisocialites
45. Steve Earle - So You Wannabe An Outlaw
44. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Luciferian Towers
43. St. Vincent - MASSEDUCTION
42. Japandroids - Near To The Wild Heart
41. Broken Social Scene - Hug Of Thunder
40. BNQT - Volume 1
39. Pallbearer - Heartless
38. Real Estate - In Mind
37. The xx - I See You
36. Tori Amos - Native Invader
35. Hiss Golden Messenger - Hallelujah Anyhow
34. Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins
33. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Youth Detention
32. Ha Ha Tonka - Heart Shaped Mountain
31. Nikki Lane - Highway Queen
30. Margo Price - All American Made
29. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound
28. Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 3
27. Willie Nelson - God's Problem Child
26. John Moreland - Big Bad Luv
25. (Sandy) Alex G - Rocket
24. The Afghan Whigs - In Spades
23. Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up
22. LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
21. Destroyer - ken

20. Sampha - Process


19. Julie Byrne - Not Even Happiness


18. Sean Rowe - New Lore 


17. Aimee Mann - Mental Illness


16. Wolf Parade - Cry Cry Cry


15. Big Thief - Capacity


14. Waxahatchee - Out In The Storm


13. Ryan Adams - Prisoner


12. Chris Stapleton - From A Room Volume 1


11. The National - Sleep Well Beast


10. Colter Wall - Colter Wall


9. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me


8. The Texas Gentlemen - TX Jelly


7. Father John Misty - Pure Comedy


6. Tyler Childers - Purgatory


5. Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights


4. Kevin Morby - City Music


3. The War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding


2. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN


1. Slowdive - Slowdive


-Matt

Favorite Songs of 2017

I'm currently working on a my favorite albums of 2017 list, however I thought I'd first post a playlist of all of my favorite songs of the year. Below is a full mix of over 100 songs that I dug this year. Keep an eye out for my favorite albums of 2017 post to come very soon.

-Matt

Video: The Texas Gentlemen - 'Bondurant Woman'

It's been a while since we've posted anything so If I'm breaking a 6+ month posting hiatus, it better be for something good.

The story of The Texas Gentlemen is an interesting one. They're a rotating group of musicians that got their start as the backing band for artists like Leon Bridges & Nikki Lane. To record their debut album, TX Jelly, they headed to Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals and the magic of that studio seeped into every track on their record. Every song on the album sounds like it comes from a different genre: Country, Rock, R&B, Soul, Gospel, & Folk. Yet, the album doesn't feel like just a groups of songs, there is a cohesion to it that you wouldn't expect from such a varied bunch of songs. This album is probably the most fun you'll have with a record this year and it's easily going to find it's way into my top 10 albums of the year.

Below is the video for one of my favorite tracks on the record: 'Bondurant Woman'. I feel in love with the song the first time I heard it since it reminded me of one of my favorite groups of all-time (with a similar background story as well) in The Band.

Check out the video below and come see The Texas Gentlemen open up for Paul Cauthen at the Record Bar in Kansas City tomorrow night.

New Song: The War On Drugs - 'Thinking Of A Place'

The War On Drugs put out my favorite album of 2014 and it wasn't really even close. When I heard the band was planning on putting out a 12" single for Record Store Day in 2017 I got understandably excited. Even one new song from the band indicates that they are probably working on much more and even potentially a new album.

Well, the single has been released today and it's an epic song reaching over 11 minutes in length. The track is called 'Thinking Of A Place' and it packs in everything I love about this band into one song. Check out the song below and keep on the lookout for news about a potential new album.


The War On Drugs - Thinking Of A Place from Record Store Day on Vimeo.

-Matt

New Song: Sharon Van Etten - 'The End Of The World'

Sharon Van Etten may be my favorite female voice in music today. Her last two albums are both gorgeous, moving, and two of my favorites of the last decade. I can't express how excited I am for when she releases her next record.

Until then we get these one off songs and, in this case, a cover from an Amazon TV show called 'The Man In The High Castle". The song is a fantastic old country tune made popular by Skeeter Davis called 'The End of the World' and, of course, Van Etten's cover is amazing. Listen to the track below.



-Matt

What the F**&K is Wrong with You?: PJ Harvey

I didn't listen to many female artists when I truly began to "listen" to music, i.e. actively searching and using my own money to buy a tape or CD of somebody that I wanted to listen to and absorb. Being a boy around the age of 13 in the suburbs, all of my music was male-centric, from The Beatles to Led Zeppelin to AC/DC to, of course, The Partland Brothers' Electric Honey.

Two things to mention: First CD I ever bought  after getting my first CD player (bargain bin), and article symbolism later.

I don't believe this is anything odd and imagine that most kids starting out their active-listener lives are going to associate to artists of their own sex. I never disliked women artists (certainly not those from the 50s , 60s, or the R&B 70s), but as boy who didn't understand anything about girls, buying their music never crossed the mind. I needed some sort of connection outside of the music itself, and all of us being man-boys was the easiest connection to make.

Eventually, once I hit college in I had realized that part of absorbing music is to encounter different perspectives, and that I could listen to Liz Phair talking about blowjobs and gender double standards even if I couldn't relate (but I could still sympathize!). I could enjoy hearing Justine Frischmann sing about needing Vaseline when you're stuck like glue because, damn, sex is awkward for all of us!

Absolutely listened to Elastica solely because of their music

While I began to listen to  more females artists, I'd say most hung around the indie or just general rock genre, so while lyrically they might be bringing some new ideas to my tiny musical end table, it was still food for thought that I had ingested before. I wasn't pooping out anything new to spark the imagination, so to speak. Perhaps, I was becoming musically constipated in the bowels my artistic expansion....

There wasn't - and still isn't- as much diversity in my female artists. I still lean towards rock/indie/punk women artists (Sleater-Kinney being my absolute #1 as a whole, not just a "girl band"), along with electro-pop leaning singers and Americana/folk. Still, despite what  I consider to be my own limits of female experience, I am surprised I didn't spend more time listening to PJ Harvey, as by all indications she should have been up my alley. When Witmer suggested that I take on To Bring You My Love, I jumped at the suggestion, kicking myself when he named the album that this wasn't something I already had on my playlist.

So, let's begin!

The Artist: PJ Harvey
The Album: To Bring You My Love
The Listener: Chris
The Presenter: Scott

(Side note: I actually thought I saw her in support of R.E.M in 1995, but it was actually Sonic Youth, I now realize).

Track 1: To Bring You My Love

Well, hello Track 1!  l love a good Track 1. Picking your first track for an album is the most important part of your track arrangement, so this bodes well. She's mentioned the desert, wandering, and Jesus in the first minute, so we are in fine shape for a rock album. This is my point: All musicians - regardless of sex -  will write about those three topics at some point in their career.

Man, I am kicking myself already on this- Harvey has great character in her voice and you buy in, and already much more raw than I expected, with a great mix of the guitar falling over the rest of the instruments. I feel like her bringing love might be a double suicide. And that tremolo at the end...Grade: A

Track 2: Meet Ze Monsta

It was fun to write that title, and I laughed, but before the track started I was also wondering if there was going to be any humor in the actual song, or it would be just really dark. Possibly being about abuse.

I initially thought I heard a little Robert Palmer with the drums, so that was a little fun. Her lyrics really are the prime example of relatability to any artist- I took it as her just having an intense night of sex, and she lays on middle-school euphemisms or just general words (like "head" and "coming") that you associate to sex even if they are not being used in that context, since I am still a middle-schooler (I taught middle school, so maybe that explains it. Ironically, I can't stand that age, but I loved teaching them. They are hilarious group of insecure dorks who all seem to discover 70s rock in 7th grade). Grade: B-

Track 3: Working for the Man

Now this track is what I was expecting Harvey to sound more like- spare drums, slight textures, a sense of something a little creepy going on. It's a nice change of pace from the first two tracks- breaking up the blues rock gives you time to breathe and get a sense of what she is fully bringing to the table. The song is a throwaway, but serves the album, so far. Lyrically, she is really seeming to push the idea of sexuality, or being under the spell of a man, as well as being powerless to God. "God of piston, god of steel/God is here behind the wheel". Grade: B+

Track 4: C'mon Billy

This was the first track that lyrically took on a true "woman's perspective", after three tracks that certainly could have been performed by anyone and made sense. Harvey is trying to get Billy to come back to her after she's had his son, who I assume he didn't know about, or perhaps left. The line towards the end "Damn thing went crazy" makes me think she killed the child, since she's referring to it as thing, perhaps keeping Billy from her. I also read into what seems like a trend, with Harvey serving to the will of man in her song, and I can't help but read it as commentary on the kind of life a woman leads when in this mindset. Grade: B

Track 5: Teclo 

So my kids were listening to Veggie Tales before I listened to this, and when I hit play I hadn't clicked on the actual track. Not what I was expecting. So it's taken me a few seconds to get my thoughts back in order.

This track is more in line with how I imagined PJ Harvey to be. She throws in a lot of character into her voice, as opposed to more straight-up blues wrath from earlier. The vocals ride on sparse minor chord riffs with feedback noodling to still give it that root anchor, but certainly goes into a more modern framework. The lyrics continue the obsession or longing to be with someone else, but I have no idea what "Teclo your death/Will send me to my grave" means. Isn't Teclo a convenience store in the UK? Grade: B-

Track 6: Long Snake Moan

Fuuuuuuuuuuck yeah! I don't care about the lyrics at all. I knew that once the first four seconds went by. I want this song played live when I go see her, preferably as an encore. I checked her set list recently and doesn't look like she's playing it. I'll need to tweet her this advice. Perfect blend of a dark, angry, sexy riff, power drums, droning organ, and that goddamn angry  voice. Grade: A

Track 7: Down by the Water

It's amazing how much MTV could effect what I wanted to listen to or who I wanted to pass on. I mean, I prided myself on watching 120 Minutes and MTV2, so I was hip to what was going on, but if an artists song didn't connect with me on those first couple of rotations, I was probably done with them. This is what happened with "Get Up" by Sleater-Kinney and it happened with Harvey and "Down by the Water". "Get Up" is one of my least favorite SK tracks, and the same certainly is true for "Water". It's not awful by any means- the buzzing synth bass is cool, I like the strings, and it has an identity, but it just...is. After 6 tracks in, where at least 5 really had some charge to them, this just drifts down the water past my raft, without me caring to go back and save it. In fact, it can take "Get Up" with it. Grade: C-

Track 8: I Think I'm a Mother

Is this a dirge? Seems like a dirge. I want to write a dirge and play it a funeral, and people would say "That's quite appropriate".

The lyrics are really confusing, so I won't read too much into them. But I have to wonder what the hell "You just roll me over/You give me a mother/A man if I love her" means. Is the narrator a woman? She wants to get pregnant with a mom? Or the man's a she if she loves her? A nice little riff- Harvey is absolutely a blues aficionado who does a nice job throwing in modern interpretations to these tried-and-true melodies, and that always sticks with me. This is a back-to-back run of two songs that don't stick much with you, though. Grade: B-

Track 9: Send His Love to Me

Hello, 90s acoustic guitar! It's the classic overproduced acoustic track, which seems counter-intuitive. I found the organ not quite fitting this song as we have heard in others, and I wasn't quite sold on her synth-and-strings middle section. I could certainly hear this with that out and have kept it with just the acoustic and percussion. Also, she misses the love of a guy, and wants Jesus to hear her!
Grade: C

Track 10: The Dancer

I've somewhat joked about Harvey's reference to God/Jesus in this album, but while I think a lot of time artists use biblical references, terms, or theological questions as an easy out to look deep and contemplative, it definitely is a theme for Harvey in this album- and maybe in a lot of her work. Lyrically this is by far the most direct track on the topic of God and the idea of being saved by Him. God even appears to send an angel to her to let her know he is there for her. This directness of the track also makes me want to look back at hear earlier tracks and see if the references to him might deal more with her relationship with God. It makes the idea of her constantly in want of him to be much deeper if she's seeking Him, and not a him. Musically it keeps a pretty constant melody throughout, so it's a showcase of her words, and it feels like she bearing her soul, with the music more of her background. Grade: B

Overall Grade: B-

This album really started strong, and even mid-way when I felt it started to lose it's luster, "Long Snake Moan" came an swallowed me whole. But that was the high-water mark, and the back end really started to fade. Lyrically she stuck with her themes, she has a hell of voice that can rip through and make a musically "meh" song really catch fire. While A B- might seem a little low, this is based on my first listen. I am going to listen to the album again, and update the overall grade if I feel different. More importantly, I am really going to go on and listen to some other albums of hers, as I hear a lot of elements of her music that made me curious about her output.

Great suggestion, Witmer! Let me know what you all think, and if there's another PJ Harvey album you recommend, let me know. I feel this would be a great 1-2 punch with Exile in Guyville.

-Chris


Bonus content! 

If had grabbed this Electric Honey in the bargain bin, my music life would have gone a much different direction in grade school (I would have at least listened to the album more than once). However it didn't come out until 13 years later when I was in college.

Remember, when doing the photo shoot, only one member should look directly at the camera.

Clearly, This Is a Valid and Objective Comparison of Artists

Today at work, I engaged in a conversation with Matt regarding the recent Bon Iver release 22, A Million. We both agreed that it was underwhelming at best in comparison to For Emma, Forever Ago and Bon Iver. Not shocking analysis after being out for a few months and after however many reviews. Most reviews are pretty positive, some aren't. Mine is probably middling- nothing much really got my attention and seemed like Justin Vernon became enamored with production, etc. etc.

How I felt about the album is not the point of the post. The point is this: I believe that if Vernon makes another (in my opinion) sub par album, he will decline to the musical quality and relevance of Gotye. To help Matt get a nice visual of my projection, I made this graph in four minutes (three if I wasn't interrupted by a coworker):

This only projects out up to 2016 and his most recent output- this is science so I'm not going to make shit up. Matt believes that comparing him to Gotye as a negative is not valid: Gotye is pretty much a one-hit wonder, while Vernon has had three extremely well-received albums. Vernon also has influence in production with other artists across genres, where as we think Gotye is still recording?

I believe the comparison is valid because:

1. They are both white
2. Wikipedia describes their genres as "art pop" (just one of at least four listed. Apparently Bon Iver is also "Baroque pop", which is a new one. Does that mean it's really lavish and over-the-top? Does he reference Johannes Vermeer and get really emotional?).
3.They are kinda whiny?
4. Beards
5. If Vernon bombs, I can say he "got Gotyed!". Or something..

So, that to me is enough., but Matt says no. So here is the exercise:

If Justin Vernon fails - and I mean fails, not make an album that I myself didn't think was all that great- what artist can we compare him to at that point, using a failed release as hks absolute state orf relevancy and quality? Or, to make it more general, which currently relevant/successful artist would you compare to a one-off, middling artist should said successful artist drop off a cliff with their next release?

We will assume both Gallagher brothers are already nominated.

-Chris

Five for Friday the 13th

In attempt to fulfill my resolution from LAST year, I am announcing my return to JoC! Despite Matt telling me he closed up shop, I was able to remember my password and log back in. I was going to throw in some random faves, but since it's Friday the 13th AND Kansas City is supposed to be hit by the STORM OF THE CENTURY, I thought I'd list some videos that fall under that theme. See if you can find the connections!

Fuck it, I just searched randomly for this one:






Happy Friday, everyone! Remember, just because you drive an SUV doesn't mean  your tires melt ice and you can drive like back road country boy...

Video: Foxing - 'Night Channels'

Every time I make a new "Favorite albums of XXXX" list, I like to revisit it later to see what I would change. Sometimes albums will sit with me long after I've made a list and if I were to re-rank a particulate year, albums would move around quite a bit. The perfect example of this would be the 2015 release from St. Louis band Foxing. That album, Dealer, has been on regular rotation through all of 2016 and already into 2017. If I re-ranked my favorite albums of 2015, Dealer would without a doubt make the top 10 instead of where I initially ranked it at #35.

Foxing aren't the type of band I normally listen to. They're on the verge of being Emo which is a genre I don't usually enjoy. However, this album has seeped into my sub-conscious and will probably be one I'm still listening to in another five years. My favorite track on the album is 'Night Channels'. The band also made a brilliant video to accompany an already emotional track. Check out the video below...


-Matt