Tag: Amanda Shires

Best of 2023 – Songs

There were more records I loved, that I wanted to defend or argue about with people, that woke me up in the morning or kept me awake at night, than I could keep up with. The playlists themselves got a little unwieldy, but I still want to talk about records on a regular cadence, so look for something differently shaped in January.

One of the most fertile sources for finding new songs for me – and I love my fellow writers; I still read The Wire every month, Stereogum (especially Phil Freeman’s Ugly Beauty) regularly, NYC Jazz Record all the time, every promo email that comes my way – was radio. WFMU is still a constant flood of inspiration and joy.

However, I was saddened to see St Louis’s KDHX drive passionate volunteers away in droves with mismanagement and misinformation: I namecheck John Wendland’s Memphis to Manchester a lot but also pour a little out for longtime buddies Roy Kasten and Steve Pick (still providing killer recs on his Substack), newer pal Caron House (check her new podcast, After the Gold Rush, continuing her great show Wax Lyrical), and people I didn’t know but listened to semi-religiously like Rich Reese, Ital K, and more. One of my favorite radio stations is a shell of itself, and I hope everyone I like finds peace and a place to land, but I know many times it doesn’t work like that.

Like in past years: Songs mostly (but don’t always) have lyrics and are a (more-or-less) concise jolt of emotion; Spaces are mostly instrumental and are sculptural or landscape-ish; both consist of tracks that came out this year to the best of my knowledge. Parting Gifts is a look back at artists who made an impression on me we lost this year; it’ll be the last of these posted and very close to the 31st.

https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/428f1b9f-d8f9-4a49-99de-9b6b2aba9591

jaimie branch, “burning grey” – When I spoke with jaimie branch previewing her Wexner Center show in 2022 she was effusive about getting in with her band Fly or Die to record this album on the heels of that tour. And as sad as I am she’s no longer with us, this record – finishing touches presided over by her sister, Kate Branch, and her bandmates Jason Ajemian, Chad Taylor, and Lester St. Louis – is a masterpiece, so, like last year, I’m bookending the playlist with two of my favorite songs from it. This one, “Burning Grey,” served me as a mantra and a rallying cry throughout the year. The bouncy and tense urgency of the rhythm gets me pumped every time, fueling that vocal, assured in its desperation and so confident in its belief in people. That finely sharpened trumpet tone picking up right where the vocal drops off, the two sides of her voice perfectly simpatico. “Automatic time, automatic time, I wish I had the time, I wish I had the time, I had the time, I had the time, I had the time of my life.”
Jerry David Decicca, “Lost Days” – Long time friend and one of the two or three people who’ve turned me onto the most music of my life – hell, he may have sold me that Ethiopiques volume I was talking about in the live music list this year – Jerry DeCicca’s restlessness in his art is fed in all the right ways from a prolonged period of stability in the Texas hill county. New Shadows embraces the synthesizer and drum sounds of records like Tunnel of Love and New Sensations and the evocative looseness his writing has grown into over the last several albums and combines them into a tribute to wistfulness. The slightly pinched, distancing effect on the vocals (he and Rosali Middleman) draws me in. The winding tenor of James Brandon Lewis (who shows up more than once on the “Spaces” playlist) feels like it drifts through and perches on the edge of the beautiful landscapes crafted by co-producer Don Cento, looking out to a horizon while piecing together and honoring those lost days. “Look up, flags are at half mast all year like they ran out of gas.”
Olivia Rodrigo, “bad idea right?” – The ranking pretty much stops now as I try to weave together commonalities of tone and texture. A couple of my other high contenders for song of the year are at the very end, naturally. Still, if the previous couple of songs are my favorite songs of the year by a solid margin, this is my favorite single, maybe my favorite pop song, and a standout on Rodrigo’s barn burner of a second album, GUTS. The shifts in tone, the giddy delight with throwing off her friends and making a marvelous bad decision, the dry, shattered bottles on pavement drums, and the swirling keys all hit me exactly where I wanted. “I told my friends I was asleep, but I never said where or in whose sheets.”
Adanna Duru featuring Leven Kail, “Stay In” – Bringing the tone down in similar thematic waters for one of my favorite R&B songs of the year. The river-of-amber tempo and the candlelight (and melting candle wax) tones go all the way down my back. “You could take me out, or we could stay in; we could slow dance to Whitney again.”
Ledisi, “I Need to Know” – Co-written with Rex Rideout, this sumptuous on-the-edge-of-heartbreak ballad by Ledisi, draped in rich harmonies, paints an oblique story about a relationship on the precipice. I liked the Nina Simone tribute, but this has me ravenous for the next full length. “You got me up till daylight, tryna figure out if we’re all right.”
Mariah the Scientist, “Out of Luck” – Mariah the Scientist’s To Be Eaten Alive is gold-plated R&B, front-to-back perfectly tooled songs with a variety of collaborators but this one produced by Kaytranada grabbed me immediately and didn’t let go. The hard stutter of the drums underneath the placid synth sets off the synths’ and vocal’s vintage disco/early house tone beautifully. “If you treat me right, you won’t need another lover. Can you fantasize? All the things that haunted you and made you cry.”
Married FM, “Wineburg, Ohio” – Emily Davis (Necropolis, The Ipps) and Beth Murphy Wilkinson (Times New Viking) cast a long shadow over Columbus music, so as soon as I heard this project was in the offing I had to hear it. This debut release exceeded my expectations handily, some of the best bedroom pop I’ve heard in years, teasing out complicated relationships with nostalgia (particularly on this song) and the world. One of the very few guests, Mike O’Shaughnessy, adds some delicious crunch to the tune with his drums. “All the things we used to do? We just go through the motions, so we’re not so blue.”
Sunny War, “New Day” – I’ve liked Sunny War for a while, but she found an exquisite blend of folk and punk and songs boiled over a hot flame on Anarchist Gospel. This stripped-down mantra/taking stock backs her voice – front and center – only with bluegrass legend Dennis Crouch’s upright and strings by Billy Contreras, like standing in the middle of a whirlpool watching a sunrise. “You stole the light right from my eyes: jarred it up like fireflies. Start the day, salutation and smile, and work your way to tribulation and trial.”
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, “When We Were Close” – I might wish he varied the tempos a little more, but Jason Isbell keeps putting out records that hit me straight in the heart. Weathervanes burrows into the classic rock side of his passions after the shimmering light-on-water heartbreak of Reunions, and those guitars hit exactly right on almost all of the album for me. From the moment I heard the record, this tough-in-just-the-right-way eulogy for Justin Townes Earle stopped me dead in my tracks; that signature riff is one you could picture JTE nodding and taking another drag on a cigarette to, and the two winks to tributes to other people, Earle’s famous namesake Townes Van Zandt’s “Rex’s Blues” and his father Steve Earle’s memorial to Townes “Ft Worth Blues,” do what that kind of a reference is supposed to do: dig it deeper and place it in a continuum, instead of being a lazy shorthand. “I saw a picture of you laughing with your child, and I hope she will remember how you smiled. But she probably wasn’t old enough the night somebody sold you stuff and left you on the bathroom tiles.”
Joy Oladokun, “Taking Things For Granted” – There’s not a bad song on Joy Oladokun’s fourth record, Proof of Life, and it was one of the albums I turned to when I needed comfort that didn’t feel reductive or simplifying this year. Her voice surfs over the insistent churn of the rhythm section (Elliot Skinner and Aaron Steele), bursting into light but never ignoring the dark under the surface. “What people say, ‘cause everybody’s feeling the pressure of a world that’s trying to end us every day. Sometimes it feels like everyone’s looking at the surface, and it’s not happening on purpose, but they’re taking things for granted again.”
Brennen Leigh, “The Bar Should Say Thanks” – I’m still kicking myself for hesitating on buying tickets to see Brennen Leigh with Kelly Willis earlier in the year, and it sold out. Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet is the best neo-traditional country record in recent memory, by a mile. “Don’t they remember, each closing time, whose tab is always open? And who can they count on to hold the hand of a friend who’s barely coping? Who’s the queen of rehashing her hard knocks? Who drops all her spare cash in the jukebox, when I could’ve been putting it in the bank?”
Lisa O’Neill, “All of This is Chance” – One of the many songs on here I found through the aforementioned John Wendland, but one I remember specifically hearing on his show and having to write it down/dig into it. Irish singer Lisa O’Neill’s All of This is Chance was exactly the kind of storytelling record I didn’t even know I was consciously craving, and this title track is perfection, rich with drone (I suspect a violin, but could be an accordion or harmonium) and sandpaper guitar. “When you watch from the doorway, the years run by.”
Mick Harvey, “A Suitcase in Berlin” – This meditation on place and grappling with mortality continues Mick Harvey’s gentle evolution. The arrangement is perfect, understated, flecked with organ and strings, underscoring the wistfulness and his singing continues its growth into the ranks of the classic chanteurs. “It just stays there, and that makes its own sense. To make the trips always okay: I have the urge, I can just go back again. Go back again.”
John Cale, “Noise of You” – John Cale’s MERCY is a fucking triumph, a looking back and planting his flag in the now and tomorrow. Full of grapplings with mortality and not going gently into the night. On this, his shimmering synths dance around cracking drums courtesy of avant-garde percussionist Deantoni Parks (Meshell Ndegeocello) and the cello of long-time Alejandro Escovedo foil Matt Fish. “Was so long, so long ago. I hear you now.”
Gee Tee, “Cell Damage” – One of 12 bursts of middle finger exuberance from Sydney’s Gee Tee’s second record, Goodnight Neanderthal, featuring shaky synths and sawing guitars wrapped around an in-your-face vocal delivering tangy hooks. A reminder of how much I love rock and roll and how well the Aussies are doing it these days.
Daddy Long Legs, “Silver Satin” – Swinging garage-blues shouters Daddy Long Legs returned with Street Sermons which made me extremely happy and very much looking forward to seeing them live again – this song, with its deep backing vocals, prominent castanets, and barrelhouse piano, teases different elements of the formula to the fore without sacrificing the basement dance party we’re all here for. “I’m gonna get me a bottle of Thunderbird. She swings as sweet a song as I’ve ever heard.”
6LACK, “preach” – I got turned onto 6LACK from an old friend and co-worker Cassie Schutt years – and two jobs – ago, and I’ve been a fan ever since. The suspended organ and clicking drums in the background of this standout from his terrific Since I Have a Lover are exactly the right background for the sly smirk in his flexible delivery. “I get sick of being looped in; I’m praying for a beat switch, interlude transition. I’m moving on my feet quick. Limited thinking, gimmicks and placements, mimicking faces committed to the wicked and basic. Who amI to capitalize without giving back?”
Lucinda Williams, “New York Comeback” – I devoured Lucinda Williams memoir Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You in two days, and loved this post-stroke return Stories From a Rock and Roll Heart, full of swaggering barroom gems and deep soul, a life still bearing her bitemarks. My personal favorite was this recounting of triumph that also counts the scars, written with her husband Tom Overby and Jesse Malin (who I’ve donated toward; get well soon, Jesse), featuring a powerful Steve Ferrone drum part and backing vocals from Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa. “No one’s brought the curtain down; maybe you should stick around until the stage goes black. Maybe there’s one last twist. Two outs, nobody on base, we’re down to the last strike. Could hear a pin drop in this place. Hoping for a miracle tonight.”
The New Pornographers, “Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies” – Much like the last few records, Continue as a Guest didn’t hold my attention all the way through, but I kept coming back to this perfectly crafted quirky pop gem with a bouncy arrangement. Hearing Carl Newman and Neko Case’s voices in concert still moves me like few other combinations. “Listening to the first grace notes of the day play, the sun kept on rising til it floated away. Spun out of control, you recover and steer through, into controlled slide. That’s just what you do. And now you’re clearing the room just like Pontius Pilate when he showed all his home movies. All of his friends yelling, ‘Pilate, too soon!’”
Peter One featuring Allison Russell, “Birds Go Die Out of Sight (Don’t Go Home)” – The former Cote d’Ivoire country star who fled to the US during strife in his country picked up the career now that his children are grown. The weathered and sweet voice and the charm and careful crafting of the songs struck me when I saw him at Big Ears earlier in the year in the intimate confines of the Jig and Reel. This song was a highlight of that set; I found myself singing the “Don’t go home” hook for weeks, and it’s a highlight of the very fine Come Back to Me record, including gorgeous harmonies by Allison Russell, harmonica from Memphis legend John Németh and aching pedal steel from Paul Niehaus. “Hold your horses, brother. Don’t you go, can’t you see? Things have changed, you have changed. You’ve been here for more than twenty years.”
Shania Twain featuring Malibu Babie, “Giddy Up! (Malibu Babie Remix)” – I love some Shania Twain. When I first turned 18 and was going to clubs, she was the one contemporary country star who I saw actively embrace remixes and the variety of audiences losing their minds to her work. This exuberant remix by Malibu Babie (who also produced killing work from Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion in recent years) extends that tradition. Pure dancefloor joy, shiny but still with room to breathe. “Drunk in the city, got litty in your cup.”
Chappell Roan, “Red Wine Supernova” – I got hipped to Chappell Roan through my friend and former coworker Mary McCarroll. I love most of the record, but this song hit me immediately and stayed my favorite; a glittering slice of pop perfection with a raging keyboard bass riff and barbed lyrics. “I heard you like magic; I got a wand and a rabbit.”
Meng & Ecker, “Shoot Yer Load” – I’d heard of the Blacklips performance art collective, centered around the Pyramid Club on Avenue A, but it was just enough before my time I didn’t really know the work. The compilation Blacklips Bar: Androgyns and Deviants — Industrial Romance for Bruised and Battered Angels, 1992–1995 co-edited by ANHONI, was a better introduction than I could have imagined; a mix of cabaret-style reimaginings of classics and pop hits and serrated-edge dance pop originals like this one, performed by a duo named after the bad-taste British comic strip, including the writer of the original comic David Britton. “Go on and shoot your load. Let it go.”
Scowl, “Psychic Dance Routine” – One of my favorite new rock bands, Scowl out of LA, was one of my most anticipated shows at Ace, sadly canceled due to COVID. Psychic Dance Routine is stripped to the bone, wire-taut, and sparking, Kat Moss’s vocals leading the charge. “She’ll never be your animal. She’s got her own personal hell.”
Karol G featuring Peso Pluma, “QLONA” – I knew some singles by Colombian sensation Karol G, but her fourth record, Mañana Será Bonito, just grabbed me by the shoulders and didn’t let go. I had a very hard time picking a single song off this, but “QLONA” got the slight edge for introducing me – late to the game – to Mexican corrido/trap star Peso Pluma.
Meshell Ndegeocello featuring Jeff Parker, “ASR” – For someone I don’t think has ever made a bad record, The Omnichord Real Book is the latest high watermark for Meshell Ndegeocello. The afrobeat call and response on the vocals made more sense when I saw this song was co-written by an architect of that sound, Tony Allen, along with the recently gone and much missed Amp Fiddler and Chris Connelly (Ministry, Revolting Cocks). A brilliant feature turn from Jeff Parker on guitar alongside guitarist/co-writer Chris Bruce (Wendy & Lisa, Bell Biv Devoe) is the icing on the cake of this track. “We were not born to live and breathe this extraordinary pain.”
The Third Mind, “Sally Go Round the Roses” – Dave Alvin reconvened the murderer’s row he assembled for his studio project of blues cut-ups par excellence, The Third Mind, for an even stronger collection of tunes and fiery playing than the self-titled original. They dig into the classic pop of the Jaynetts’ song, a favorite of Anne’s and one I didn’t know until she lit up when we saw Tav Falco do it a few years ago in New York and turn it inside out in ways that reconfigure how we look at it without disrespecting the original, without disregarding any of its original magic. A perfect, smoky Jesse Sykes vocal floats through the thickets of guitar from Alvin and David Immergluck, a heat-mirage of a groove from bassist Victor Krummenacher, and always-stellar drumming from Michael Jerome, who I’ve been a big fan of since seeing with Richard Thompson around 20 years ago (maybe the first time I saw Alvin, opening that tour, or maybe that Zeppelin show with Dave Alvin was a year or two before). “The saddest thing in the whole wide world: to see your baby with another girl.”
Lori McKenna, “Letting People Down” – As big a fan as I am of Lori McKenna’s writing for other people, every time she puts out one of her own records feels (in my own tiny world) like an event and her terrific grappling with, engaging with (but never drowning in) nostalgia of 1988 was another dagger to the solar plexus like only she can deliver. Like Jim Lauderdale, in a more just world McKenna would be the one packing stadiums, but that might make the soil of country and adjacent music a lot less fertile. “You get up for work every day; you drag yourself right out of bed. The arms of those angels are wrapped around the dreams you left. I look the other way, pretending not to notice; I don’t know how it died, but I know where the ghost is.”
Rissi Palmer, “Speak on It” – Raleigh-based country singer Rissi Palmer gets stronger and casts a wider net with every release, and her EP this year, Still Here, continued that trend. Much as I liked the title track collaborating with Miko Marks, I kept gravitating back toward this New Orleans-inflected, horn-spattered call to arms. “Brothers getting beat; his sister’s held to the ground. If you say what you see, we can turn it around…If no one will defend them, baby, let them know you will.”
Say She She, “C’est Si Bon” – Brooklyn-based soulful disco band Say She She shot to another level of clarity and power with their excellent second record Silver and this standout, what they referred to as “a tribute to the global dancefloor” in an advance notice, is exactly the kind of thing I’d want to hear in a club, balancing a strong, very cold drink, surveying the crowd but not for long before joining the fray. “Tell them what you want; the time will soon be gone.”
Jorja Smith, “Try Me” – London-based R&B star Jorja Smith returned with a record falling or flying this year featuring a suite of rock-solid songs. “Try Me” is an excellent showcase for her voice and barbed lyrics, surrounding her in atmospherics and a skeletal but thumping beat. “Can you wait for this second? To please somebody else other than your needs. You’ve got a lot left on these sleeves, but your heart’s not on your sleeve.”
Bulla en el Barrio, “Madre Luna” – Another example of the music scene making Brooklyn so exciting right now, features Carolina Oliveros and Christian Rodriguez spun off from Chicha Libre who I loved so much. I’ve seen this referred to as New York’s first bullerengue group, a regional genre based in Colombia and Panama.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy, “Behold! Be Held!” – I’m not sure there’s a songwriter I’ve loved for this many years who epitomizes the Dickinson edict of “Tell all the truth but tell it slant” as whole-heartedly as Will Oldham. The themes I’ve been able to suss out from this standout track from his Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You album (my favorite record of his since Master and Everyone, and despite more detailed chamber music arrangements, the closest to giving me some of the vibrations that record did) include the reasons we make art, the way we find revelation through not knowing, and an incomplete (of course) map to living. I know there’s more to discover through play, not dissection. Kendall Carter’s keys and the close harmony between Oldham and Waters have a meditative effect on me and set up the burst of moonlight that’s Drew Miller’s saxophone, playing a similar role to James Brandon Lewis’s on DeCicca’s track here. Just magic. “And then when that grueling death bell knells, we’ll have such a wondrous thing to remember: there’s nothing to fear from those crazy blue bells. The mystery’s solved, and the oval is closed, and everyone we know will be born again: behold, be held, the adventure’s over.”
Rhiannon Giddens, “Wrong Kind of Right” – The first time I saw Rhiannon Giddens at Big Ears – I was already a fan from her work with Carolina Chocolate Drops – was revelatory; killer repertoire and the announcement of a great American voice. Her first record of all originals, You’re The One, is everything I hoped, a vintage big room country-soul record but written with a modern eye and ear. Dwayne Bennett’s (Charlie Wilson, Valerie June) organ swells leads a killing horn section arranged by Jack Splash (Solange, Mayer Hawthorne, Anthony Hamilton), buffetting and oozing around her voice and a bounce-a-quarter-on-it rhythm section. “I’m not the apple of your eye; it’s a shame you’re the one in mine. You know I love all the things we do, and I know it’s not the same for you.”
Amanda Shires and Bobbie Nelson, “Waltz Across Texas” – Amanda Shires, after a series of ever-more-daring solo records, reminded us all of her vintage Texas bonafides – starting out in a later version of Western Swing pioneers the Texas Playboys and in Billy Joe Shaver’s band – and shining a spotlight on late-to-get-her-due piano player Bobbie Nelson with the beguiling and gorgeous Loving You. This lovely take on the Ernest Tubb classic is a perfect example of the beautifully unadorned style of the record. “Like a storybook ending, I’m lost in your charms.”
Vada Azeem, “ABUELA” – Columbus rapper Vada Azeem got my attention with his early work with Fly.Union and returned after a decade of not releasing a full length under his name with the stunning We Forgot God Was Watching. This tribute to his grandmother, riding a loping, horn-rich beat from Cleveland-based production collective Armani Cove. “I remember what my Grandma told a little me, my eyes full of glee, ‘Stay focused, child, always tie your camel to the tree.’”
Alien Nosejob, “Split Personality” – Following closely on one of my favorite Gonerfest sets, a collection of poppy, catchy piss-takes, this solo project from the Ausmuteant’s Jake Robertson delivered a record that lived up to that introduction and then some, The Derivative Sounds of... Or... A Dog Always Returns to its Vomit, crisply recorded and loaded with little details, guitar hooks and surprising drum fills that never detract from the forward propulsion.
The Tripwires, “Piano Annie on Sunday” – John Ramberg’s written a lot of my favorite songs over the years – from co-writing most of Neko Case’s Furnace Room Lullabye before I knew him, to a swath of perfect Model Rockets songs (I play “Ugly Jacket” and swoon every October, even to this day) – and we were blessed with two full-lengths from his current supergroup The Tripwires, also featuring Johnny Sangster (Neko Case), Jim Sangster (Young Fresh Fellows), Dan Peters (Mudhoney), and Mark Pickerel (Screaming Trees). This shining example from Do It Some More finds Ramberg and the band capturing a feeling I love and paying tribute to something that doesn’t get spoken of nearly enough, the local musician just killing it week after week, letting a crowd coalesce around her. One of my goals for 2024 is to get out to the Pacific Northwest and see all my people out there, focused on a Tripwires show. “Places everybody for star time: 17 to 70. Annie hangs loose on days like today, the best I’ve ever heard her sing.”
Cheater Slicks, “Garden of Memories” – Columbus Titans’ Cheater Slicks returned this year with another world-beater of a record, Ill-Fated Cusses, and much like the last one, 2012’s Reality is a Grape, I find myself more drawn to the mid-tempo and slower songs than the ragers. This tune conjures nostalgia while knowing it’s a lie, crafting charcoal drawings of crackling feedback around a mournful, menacing vocal. “Garden of memories, sheltered within me, fade like dew drops in rain. Fade like a daydream, leave just a smokescreen; joy that lies beyond the veil of this concrete-like jail.”
B. Cool-Aid featuring Liv.e, Jimetta Rose & V.C.R, “soundgood” – B. Cool-Aid, a supergroup of rapper PinkSiifu and producer Ahwlee, teamed up for a concept record dripping in ambiance, Leather Blvd. The smoky soundscapes on this track, with that infectious keyboard riff burrowing into my skull and sweet-spicy crooning, was endemic of everything I loved about the album. “Two-a-days up here. Hide it from your girlfriend, like we the only ones here. You know that shit sound good.”
Ashley McBryde, “Cool Little Bars” – Ashley McBryde’s The Devil I Know was another shining example of her hooky Mellencamp-style roots rock and deep country ballads with sharply observed detail in the lyrics. This co-write with rising star Laney Wilson and Trick Savage, who I wasn’t previously familiar with, takes on a subject close to my heart and, clearly, to the artist, with warm empathy. “The faded paint is covered up with dollar bills, from regulars and amateurs that all had time to kill. It’s cookie-cutter corporate on this street, so, Lord, as I sit me down to drink, I pray time just forgets to turn places like this into drive-thrus and condos. Lord knows we need those little holes in the wall, for lost souls and old stray dogs. God bless two-for-ones and broken hearts, and cool little bars.”
Robbie Fulks, “One Glass of Whiskey” – A similar subject viewed with an affection but also a little more of a barbed tongue and a remove, this was my first favorite off Robbie Fulks’ killing Bluegrass Vacation record, uniting him with the cream of the contemporary bluegrass scene – on this track including Punch Brother Chris Eldridge, T-Bone Burnett first call bassist Dennis Crouch, Family Band mandolinist Ronnie McCoury, and longtime Fulks’ foil Shad Cobb – and, in some sense, bringing him full circle to the earliest work he was known for in the Chicago scene. “And when I feel I’m sinking low, I reach for the first friend I see. All I need is to look at him and know he’s sinking faster than me. One glass of whiskey to ease my mind, and another one to take it too far away to find.”
Jerry Joseph, “The War I Finally Won” – Singer-songwriter Jerry Joseph (The Jackmormons, Little Women) continues his solo renaissance with Baby, You’re the Man Who Would Be King, produced with diamond-hard clarity from Eric “Roscoe” Ambel and a stunning set of songs like this stomping look at the choices inherent in a life. “I got spit in my eye and a lump in my throat and I just know I’m done. Thrash in a rage, and a gnashing of teeth. A coming of age just out of reach. I should’ve listened when you told me to learn how to breathe.”
Billy Valentine and the Universal Truth, “Home is Where the Hatred Is” – Columbus favorite son Bily Valentine, formerly of the Valentine Brothers, assembled a crack band for a beautiful record of social commentary soul tunes like this silk-wrapped-around-knives take on the Gil Scott-Heron classic. “You keep saying kick it, quit it, kick it, quit it, but did you ever try? To turn your sick soul inside out so that the world can watch you die?”
ANHONI and the Johnsons, “Can’t” – ANHONI returned with maybe her finest record, My Back Was a Bridge For You to Cross, synthesizing the various influences and genres of each of the earlier records into a more consistent, cohesive soul. This swinging northern-soul inflected song, with a stellar cast of players including drummer Chris Vatalaro (Antibalas, Bat for Lashes, Sam Amidon), Martin Slattery’s (Amy Winehouse, Joe Strummer) keys, and Jimmy Hogarth (also ANHONI’s co-writer) on guitar, was a standout for me. “Come back home, my darling, come back home, my friend. Sorry for the things I’ve done. I can’t stop this, darling, it keeps being real; I don’t want you to be dead. I can’t stand around talking shit with all these rotten teeth.”
79.5, “B.D.F.Q” – At the vanguard of Brooklyn’s neo-disco scene alongside Say She She who featured elsewhere in this playlist, 79.5 put out a front-to-back stunner with their eponymous debut full-length. This song, the advance single that hooked me and a standout when I got to see them open for Lady Wray this year, written by singer Kate Mattison, is a thumping, snarling anthem. “Bitch, don’t fucking quit – you’ve got it, bitch, you’ve got it.”
Sexxy Red featuring Nicki Minaj and Tay Keith, “Pound Town 2” – One of the phenomenon songs this year, a sex anthem with a creeping club beat courtesy of Tay Keith and an infectious mumbling delivery I can’t quite compare to anyone else from Sexxy Red. “I want fish and grits, throwing hissy fits.”
Wu-Tang Clan, “Claudine” – I hadn’t been paying a lot of attention to what the Wu’s been up to lately but every few years, they have a single or two that knock me on my ass and remind me what a force they remain. The newest entry in that storied canon is “Claudine,” featuring Method Man and Ghostface Killah, a hook from Nicole Bus who’s new to me, and a vintage-sounding sweet soul beat from longtime affiliate Mathematics. “You think it’s fine to play with all what I have left. It’s a cold world out there and I can’t take this silence.”
Future Utopia featuring Kae Tempest, “We Were We Still Are” – I knew Kae Tempest through their writing before I even knew they made music, but quickly became just as big a fan of that other side (still bummed they didn’t make it to Big Ears, hopefully someday). This track pairs the poet-rapper with grime mastermind Future Utopia working in a vintage, horn-flecked landscape mode. An infectious party starter with plenty to grip onto. “Hello disorientation, my old friend, welcome to the days of distortion. Complex parades of illusion, charades, on course for destruction: yawn for the horseman. An end is an end until it’s a beginning; winning. We built this city on what we stole, and then we ate it whole.”
Scratcha DVA featuring Skream, and Mez, “X Rated” – Skream was one of the first artists I gravitated toward in the early, languid waves of dubstep, and I became a fan of grime DJ and producer Scratcha DVA not long after. I’m not as familiar with Nottingham-based rapper Mez but he works wonders over this beat with a supple, shifting flow.
Lil Yachty, “pRETTy” – Lil Yachty continued his exploration of psychedelic tones and vintage distortion on the hypnotic Let’s Start Here. This echoey slow jam is one of the standouts for me from the album. “I know you done been through a lot, but trust me when I say I’m there for you.”
Chiiild featuring Lucky Daye, “Good For Now” – Chiiild and Lucky Daye teamed up on this mesmerizing duet, with production from PL, xSDTRK & D’Mile, the swirling acoustic guitar riff is a highlight but their two voices run the show for me. “Tell me that we’re dreaming, don’t say that we’re in love. Whatever this is, it’s good for now.”
King Louie Bankston, “Gone Too Far” – King Louie Bankston, one of the undersung heroes of the New Orleans underground, left us too soon in 2022, and Goner Records and some old friends and collaborators have started on some archival projects as a much-needed corrective to this mad genius who’s work languished too often on demo tapes or limited-edition CDRs or 7”s that never got repressed. The first blush of that vital work is the fantastic Harahan Fats. This track captures the blend of crunching earworm riff and confessional lyric, blurring bravado, self-deprecation, and sweetness that made so many of us fall in love with him in the first place. “I fell behind ‘cause I’ve gone too far; this ugly mind, so don’t take a look.”
Ibex Clone, “Nothing Ever Changes” – Memphis cracked power trio Ibex Clone returned with their best record yet, All Channels Clear, maybe the best record George Williford (guitar), Alec McIntyre (bass), and Meredith Lones (drums) have made yet, and that’s saying something because I loved Ex-Cult, NOTS, and Hash Redactor an awful lot. The sharp pop hooks floating on sludgy post-punk rhythms hit just right here. “It’s taken nearly five thousand years to know exactly who you are. Getting into a lifetime stupor. Insulated from ourselves for good.”
Call Me Rita, “This is a Stick Up!” – Another explosion from this powerhouse band, fronted by poet/artist Vanessa Jean Speckman with backing from some of Columbus’s finest players including her partner Micah Schnabel and Jay Gasper on guitars, Todd May on bass, and Jason Winner on drums. “We’re not living! Only serving, we’re way more deserving than to live and die while genuflecting Capitalism Daddy in the sky.”
The Hives, “Rigor Mortis Radio” – The Hives’ returned with The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, another reminder of the finely-tooled power they bring in the service of joy. This stomping hand-clap disco rocker is another classic every bit as good as the first singles that made them international superstars. “I took my feet out of your puddle ‘cause you know what? I got better things to do ‘cause you know what I got. I got these people eating out of the palm of my hand, I got them answering every single one command. I know you want my time, here’s my line – I got your offer, decline, decline.”
Kassa Overall featuring Laura Mvula and Francis and the Lights, “So Happy” – I first saw – and loved – Kassa Overall in a rhythm section alongside John Hebert as one of the most promising jazz drummers I’d seen in a long while. He’s still that but with his solo albums he’s revealed that he’s so much more, and the gorgeously unclassifiable ANIMALS is the next step in that evolution. The best weirdo soul anyone’s making, with swooping strings, a rhythm that never feels showy but doesn’t resolve where you’d expect, and a glowing hook from Laura Mvula. “Nevermind a seat at the table, I would settle for crumbs if I’m able. Is it dumb to be wise in a humble disguise? I’m not meant to be a puppet or a fool.”
Flo featuring Missy Elliott, “Fly Girl” – British R&B vocal group Fly lace a charming interpolation of Missy Elliott’s “Work It” into this infectious slice of sugary pop, including bringing the originator out to spit some delightful interjections and a killer verse. “Back up on the market, better put in your bid, ‘cause when Missy throw a party you can’t find nowhere to sit.”
Ari LaShell, “Get Down” – Atlanta-by-way-of-Detroit soul singer-songwriter put out a stunning debut EP AWH this year and this song, a silky slither of a vocal over a bouncing, clicky beat reminds me of early ‘00s neo-soul and late ‘70s mutant disco without being overly devoted to any one style. “Boy, I want you to get down. Down.”
Dom Deshawn, “‘09 Nostalgia” – Columbus rapper Dom Deshawn released his best record AfterParadise, this year. Before the record, I heard a beautiful headlining set at the Goodale Park Gazebo this summer. This song got me immediately and hasn’t let me go yet, making the best use of breezy, glowing production from Masked Man. “Ichabod Crane, you know I be coming for necks, cause the summer’s got a lot of debts I gotta collect.”
Killer Mike featuring Andre 3000, Eryn Allen Kane, and Future, “SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS” – Much as I like Run the Jewels, I delighted in this year’s Michael, hearing Killer Mike rap over some other beats with well-chosen collaborators. This track, with production from DJ Paul, James Blake, and No ID, is an ideal showcase. “Diamonds shaped like a teardrop. I’ve got the streets in a headlock. Fly just like a skydiver, spirit, I can get manslaughtered, suicide door on the Range Rover.”
Sweeping Promises, “Good Living Is Coming for You” – Neo-new wave duo Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug piled on a level of crunch for their stellar Good Living is Coming for You, with this title track epitomizing the good time groove, gleaming hooks threaded through a sense of paranoia, a powerful desperation to take everything out of life you can before it’s taken away I related to very strongly. “Wave after wave, threatening to break the surface. This interior’s designed to make you nervous.”
PinkPantheress featuring Ice Spice, “Boy’s a liar, Part 2” – After last year waxing rhapsodic about Ice Spice, I was primed for this song-of-the-year candidate with rising pop star PinkPantheress. A pulsing heartbeat of a rhythm layered with fragile latticework of keyboards and a little guitar undergirding the lightness of PinkPantheress’s vocals and the unhurried, winking smirk of Ice Spice. “Ducking my shit, ‘cause he know what I’m on, but when he hit me I’m not gon’ respond.”
Lydia Loveless, “French Restaurant” – Lydia Loveless has never been gone – her pandemic-era Daughter was a thornier record that was a slower burn for me, or at least slower to digest – but with Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way Again it felt like Columbus’s most powerful singer-songwriter was back at full force. Ten catchy, diverse songs in a tight 33 minutes, and this song sums up the mix of anthemic, soaring heartbreak and keenly carved sense of place that I get more of from their work than anywhere else, with the always excellent band of Jay Gasper and Todd May on intertwining guitars, Mark Connor’s swinging bass and synth, and George Hondroulis’ heavy and nuanced drums. “Well, pretty soon, I’ll be running into the dark while you follow me in the car ‘cause you know I won’t get that far on foot. And I was a fool, forever walking out on something we worked on for so long when all you ever asked of me was just a little bit of goddam honesty.”
M. Ward featuring first aid kit, “too young to die” – M. Ward appears every year with a perfect record, nostalgia sculpted with rusty daggers and antique navigational instruments, and supernatural thing is another excellent example. This shimmering, haunted travelogue through the human heart weaves his voice with Swedish folk duo first aid kit. “And sailing, sometimes failing, that’s the only way to fly. Crying, sometimes wailing, that’s the only way that we learn how to try. With my face down in the mat, the champ says, ‘Are you too old to fight or too young to die?’”
Dale Watson, “I Ain’t Been Living Right” – Dale Watson takes his steely eyed looks at the beauty and flaws of the world and himself and strains it through a more acoustic filter, partly inspired by Leadbelly after moving to the great Huddy Ledbetter’s hometown, with Starvation Box, named after what Ledbetter’s father called a guitar. This sunny self-recrimination shares a lilting tone with “Gentle on My Mind” and a weathered grin that’s all Watson. “Out of the ten commandments, I reckon I broke eight, and I reckon you can reckon on which two I didn’t break.”
El Michels Affair and Black Thought, “Glorious Game” – Glorious Game matches Black Thought’s make-it-look-easy virtuosity and classicist tendencies with El Michels Affairs’ dusky cinematic vibescapes in a match made in heaven. “Gloves and mask off, time to blast off; baton I’ll pass off, rhyme your ass off.”
Optic Sink, “Summertime Rain” – I loved Optic Sink’s debut just as much as I loved singer-keyboardist Natalie Hoffmann’s earlier band Nots, saying something because Nots might have been the best rock band touring for a few years. Their follow-up – produced by Sweeping Promises’ Caufield Schnug – adds a fulltime drummer, monster player Keith Cooper from the Sheiks to the alchemy of Hoffmann and Ben Bauermeister (Toxie) and it’s a tighter, hookier record without satisfying any of the weird textures or sense of being on a journey I loved about them initially. “When I see you fade out, it feels like summertime rain.”
Statik Selektah featuring Posdnuos, “Round Trip (For Dave)” – Statik Selektah returned with another rock solid record this year, Round Trip, and for me the standout with this collaboration with De La Soul pillar Posdnuos to pay tribute to Posdnuos’s gone-too-soon groupmate Dave Jolicoeur/Trugoy the Dove. “I’ll never feel submerged in greed if someone gives me flowers when I’d rather the seeds.”
Healing and Peace, “Into a Hole” – Alex Mussawir has stealthily grown into one of Columbus’s finest songwriters on a trajectory from Future Nuns through Kneeling and Piss into Healing and Peace. This eponymous debut EP has six songs that grapple with an interesting, frequently ambiguous equanimity and trying to find one’s place in the adult world with a dry, world-weary vocal and a chiming thump. “A constant paving over of ideas, never satisfied, but truth is not a cart that drags behind you.”
Jess Williamson, “God in Everything” – I liked Williamson’s collaboration in Plains, the way I found out about her, but I really loved this year’s solo record Time Ain’t Accidental. The warm clarity of Brad Cook’s (Houndmouth, WIlliam Tyler, Ani Difranco) production sets up a world and a story I know well told from a specific and perfectly realized perspective. “Did you see or appreciate the wisdom in me? Was I something for you to play with, did I say the wrong things? Did you notice how I serve my tea?”
Esther Rose’s “Chet Baker” – Maybe the single song I pushed on people more than any other this year and a standout for me from Esther Rose’s Safe to Run, her fourth record, but I was woefully late to the party. The ingratiating melody, the steel guitar wrapping around the sold acoustic rhythm, and the narrative that feels like describing a lazy Sunday that understands exactly the import of the moment, of noticing everything the narrator sees, and knows how the time will sleep away whether they want it to or not. The steel turned up on the breathy, ground-falling-out-from-under-you bridge hits me every time. “You know rock bottom shouldn’t feel this good. We could go down swinging, arm in arm, or we could just go drinking at the 8 Ball. Two bucks, press play, baby, bully the juke. Outside the ladies’ restroom, there starts to form a queue. Six bucks: starlight special, a shot and a beer; we’re not doing great, aw, but we’re pretty good.”
Buddy and Julie Miller, “We’re Leavin’” – In The Throes is another low-key masterpiece from Buddy and Julie Miller, a perfectly produced record of how interesting love for the world can be, how fulfilling. And this song is a magnificent hymn – written by Julie Miller – that moves even a non-believer like me; their voices blanketed by long-time friends and collaborators Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, Byron House’s upright bass with Fred Eltringham’s waltzing drums, Stuart Duncan’s fiddle sluicing between Buddy Miller’s guitar and Tim Lauer’s piano. Just perfect. “Come on, everybody, we’re leaving together.”
Allison Russell, “Eve Was Black” – Allison Russell followed up my record of the year last year with exactly the right move. This thornier, harder, complicated record takes every idea from her debut. It adds everything she’s absorbed since, with static-laced production by dim star around crunching drums from Megan Coleman, acid-fried guitar form Elenna Canlas and Meg McCormack, and piano from the Revolution’s Lisa Coleman. This song’s a furious reminder of the stories behind the stories. “Do I remind you of what you lost? Do you hate, or do you lust? Do you despise or do you yearn to return back to the Motherland, back to the Garden, back to your Black Skin, back to the innocence, back to the shine you lost when you enslaved your kin?”
Iris Dement, “Workin’ On A World” – Iris Dement’s burst of productivity in the last few years has helped cement her as one of the best songwriters of my lifetime – already would have been assured if she only ever wrote “Our Town” and “Let the Mystery Be” – and this title track off her 2023 record was another stone classic. Co-produced with Richard Bennett (Steve Earle, Neil Diamond) and Pieta Brown, with a full horn section, and joy that knows it’s fed by pain and struggle. “I’m joining forces with the warriors of love who came before and will follow you and me. I get up in the morning knowing I’m privileged just to be working on a world I may never see.”
jaimie branch, “the mountain” – And we wrap with, as foretold, more jaimie branch. This gorgeous cover of the Meat Puppets; just her voice with Jason Ajemian’s voice and bass. “Coming down from the mountain, I have heard of the glory. I will go again someday, but for now, I’m coming down.”

Tags 6LACK, 79.5, Adanna Duru, Alien Nosejob, Allison Russell, Amanda Shires, Andre 3000, ANHONI, Ari LaShell, ashley mcbryde, B. Cool-Aid, best of, best of 2023, Billy Valentine, Black Thought, Bobbie Nelson, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Brennen Leigh, Buddy Miller, Bulla en el Barrio, Call Me Rita, Chappell Roan, Cheater Slicks, Chiiild, Daddy Long Legs, Dale Watson, dave alvin, Dom Deshawn, El Michels Affair, Eryn Allen Kane, Esther Rose, First Aid Kit, Flo, Francis and the Lights, Future, Future Utopia, Gee Tee, Healing and Peace, Ibex Clone, Ice Spice, Iris Dement, jaimie branch, Jason Isbell, Jeff Parker, Jerry David DeCicca, Jerry Josephl, Jess Williamson, Jimetta Rose, John Cale, Jorja Smith, Joy Oladokun, Julie Miller, Kae Tempest, Karol G, Kassa Overall, Killer Mike, King Louie Bankston, Laura Mvula, Ledisi, Leven Kail, Lil Yachty, Lisa O'Neill, Live.e, Lori McKenna, Lucinda Williams, Lucky Daye, Lydia Loveless, M. Ward, Malibu Babie, Mariah the Scientist, Married FM, Meng & Ecker, Meshell Ndegeocello, Mez, Mick Harvey, Missy Elliott, music, New Pornographers, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, Optic Sink, Peso Pluma, Peter One, Pink Pantheress, Playlist, Posdnuos, recorded music, Rhiannon Giddens, Rissi Palmer, Robbie Fulks, Say She She, Scowl, Scratcha DVA, Sexxy Red, Shania Twain, Skream, statik Selektah, Sunny War, Sweeping Promises, Tay Keith, The Hives, Third Mind, Tripwires, Vada Azeem, VCR, Wu-Tang Clan

Playlist record reviews

Playlist – July 2023

Finishing this up as I recover from my fourth round with COVID – right before a new booster is ready – so not a big summation except to say it’s been an excellent summer (even this included). Excellent for seeing people here in my town and in theirs, beautiful culturally and culinarily, and as I’ve got my and Anne’s traditional marking of the end of the summer, Gonerfest, and my first work travel for the new job both in my sights, plus the 13th anniversary of the Pink Elephant, all coming in the next weeks, I’m very grateful. I don’t think this is as dark as June’s churning of emotions – more sunshine grooves and dancefloor bangers; but, as always, I could be full of shit. Thanks for reading and listening – love you all.

https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/c84759f9-3338-415d-b1b3-d242fdd27748

Dom Deshawn, “09 Nostalgia” – Columbus rapper-songwriter Dom Deshawn has been on my radar for a while, but I was reminded how much I enjoy his work catching him at the Goodale Park Music Series last week. This benediction and wish for the world is a perfect wave of dancing sunlight that reminds me of Dead Prez’s “Happiness” in the best way. “Built my own lane, don’t care about gatekeeping. You know I’m trying to make it, giving you every reason. Tell me, are you feeling good? Maybe yes, no, I don’t even know.”
79.5, “Club Level” – At the forefront of NYC’s neo-disco scene, 79.5 made one of my favorite summertime albums this year with their self-titled sophomore full-length, produced by retro soul superstar Aaron Frazer. Mike Dillon’s percussion and co-vocalist Kate Mattison’s Rhodes set the sound world of this sticky lead-off track in seconds, and the wild, sexy ride never lets up. Ben Campbell’s thick synth bass, a sizzling horn solo from Izaak Mills, and the union vocals of co-vocalist Aisha Mills send this into outer space. The rest of the album keeps up this pace. “Cruel games. Hot flames. Say you wanna play.”
Nubya Garcia, “Lean In” – I’ve written about the great London saxophonist Nubya Garcia many times, and this new single plays with 2-step garage in a really delightful, joyful way that feels like summer in the same way as the previous two tracks but filtered through a different cityscape.
Sexmob featuring DJ Olive, “Dominion” – One of jazz’s most indefatigable, questing, and cohesive groups, the quartet Sexmob – trumpeter Steven Bernstein, saxophonist Briggan Krauss, bassist Tony Scherr, and drummer Kenny Wollensen – resume their collaboration with producer Scotty Hard, bringing his contributions of beats, synth bass, and soundscapes to the fore on their invigorating new record The Hard Way. This track adds the great DJ Olive, who helped me down the road of reshaping how I thought about turntables when I was 20 with SYR 5 with Ikue Mori and Kim Gordon. A spiky, shifting mood piece.
Gil Scott-Heron and Kek’star, “Whitey On the Moon (Deep Mix)” – South African producer Kek’Star reconfigures one of my favorite Gil Scott-Heron tracks, one I heard on the very first Best Of I bought in early college that sparked the need to have everything he’d touched, including his two novels. Kek’star’s deep house treatment layers an additional throbbing insistence to the coolly reported snapshots of desperation in the original poem that sadly gets more and more relevant. “With all the money I made last year, how come I ain’t got no money here? Hmm, whitey’s on the moon.”
BJ The Chicago Kid featuring Freddie Gibbs, “The Liquor Store in the Sky” – Contemporary soul singer BJ The Chicago Kid teams up with fellow Chicago rapper/representative Freddie Gibbs on this gorgeous, honeyed elegy for old friends built around intertwining guitar and organ parts and a loping drum beat. “We was raised blocks from each other; we grew up like brothers. That was my dawg, swear to God, would’ve gave him what I had.”
Lucas de Mulder and the New Mastersounds, “Underground Dance” – To my ears, there’s a similar warmth and depth connecting this beautiful collaboration between Spanish jazz guitarist and British funk band The New Mastersounds – hat tip to Andrew Patton for turning me onto them in the first place and nudging a merrry band of us to duck out of Pink Elephant early one month and head down to see them tear the roof off of the Park Street Saloon – also produced by Mastersounds’ guitarist Eddie Roberts. It’s a great track from a remarkably cohesive, empathetic record.
Misha Panfilov, “Dr. Juvenal’s Solution” – This Estonian composer based in Portugal flitted around the periphery of my notice for the last few years, but this slab of easy-going instrumental soul is the first time I really sat with one of his releases – I assume he played everything based on the Bandcamp – and it hooked me. Every time I play it, I have a hard time getting that guitar riff out of my head.
Dark Colors, “Memories” – I couldn’t find anything about this slice of melodic minimal techno, so I’m guessing this was an algorithm suggestion, but I love it. I love the controlled swoops and the splashes of color seeping through the cracks – the hints of a Bob James/Roy Ayers color palette that vanish almost as quickly as they arise – and it shivers the same parts of my spine as the more direct connections to soul music of the previous two tracks.
Annika Socolofsky and Latitude 49, “Loves don’t / go” – Composer-vocalist Annika Socolofsky drills deep into the substrata of her own history and psychology and the whole of the world on her strongest album yet, Don’t say a word, with chamber music sextet Latitude 49. This track sets a Molly Moses poem to riveting, crushing music – the building rumble of the piano and Socolofsky’s voice surfing over it is one of my favorite musical moments of the year.
Josh Ritter and Aoife O’Donovan, “Strong Swimmer” – Josh Ritter got my attention with “Golden Age of Radio,” particularly an acoustic version I think I found on AudioGalaxy in 2002, and every time he hits my radar, I think I should delve deeper into his work. This duet with Aoife O’Donovan (who anyone with even a passing glance at this blog knows my love for) is early August morning perfection, fog over the grass, and hints of the oncoming chill threaded through the warmth. “On the night that you were born, your Mama, who had many friends, took you down across the reach to meet the tide come in.”
Amanda Shires and Bobbie Nelson, “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” – This collaboration record between violinist-singer-songwriter Shires and longtime keystone of Willie Nelson’s Family (musical and otherwise), pianist Bobbie Nelson, Loving You, is a stunning, intimate thing, with minimal accompaniment from bass and drums, and this reading of long one of my favorites of brother Willie’s songs devastates me every time, letting me hear a song I’ve known my whole life with new eyes. “I patched up your broken wing and hung around for a while, trying to keep your spirits up and your fever down.”
Jess Williamson, “God in Everything” – Last year’s collaboration with Waxahatchee as Plains put singer-songwriter Jess Williamson on my radar, and her new album Time Ain’t Accidental knocked the wind out of my lungs. This song gorgeously captures a time and place, putting her acoustic at the forefront, with Dashawn Hickman’s pedal steel almost serving as a Greek Chorus, flowing over and around the minimal backing and subtle, perfect production from Brad Cook. “Did you see or appreciate the wisdom in me? Was I something for you to play with? Did you notice how I serve my tea?”
Madison Cunningham, “Inventing the Wheel” – This new song on the deluxe version got me to go back and check out Cunningham’s Revealer record from last year, and it highlighted what a great piece of work and what a fascinating songwriting voice I missed. The surprising twists in the melody and the unsettling, harmonium-driven atmospheres keep me engaged in this fascinating look at the peril inherent in the hunger of trying to both live as much of life as you can and synthesize it into something that lasts. “Waking up to a heavy cup: ambition drinking me. Helpless, as I watch another death lay out on TV. I render it down to size and sound, ’til it comes as no surprise, to sleep all through the night and still wish to open my eyes. Life and all her fragility, the midwife of this urgency: a moment I may never get again.”
Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra, “Kemet (The Black Land)” – I knew very little about trombonist-composer Javier Nero before I think I got tipped to the excellent record this is the title track of through, I suspect, Phil Freeman’s always great monthly column. Trumpeter Sean Jones is the main foil for Nero here; check the fiery solo around the four-minute mark, rising out of but without losing touch with the lushness around him, and the rhythm section of drummer Kyle Swan, pianist Josh Richman, and bassist William Ledbetter provide a richly textured landscape for these intertwining, glowing melodies.
Killer Mike featuring Andre 3000, Future, Eryn Allen Kane, “Scientists and Engineers” – I love the Run the Jewels stuff, but it’s an utter joy to get to hear Atlanta’s Killer Mike play in a variety of different sound worlds again on his excellent record Michael. This track is overstuffed with ideas – opening with lush orchestrations and Kane’s vocals that reminded me of the previous track, then powering through a series of hairpin turns – and powered by a fire at its heart, a love for the world – or at least his world, his community – that needs to speak the truth (and, as Hotspur reminded us, shame the devil), with all the collaborators here bringing their A game. “It ain’t enough that I hit my opp and his block: we burned down his whole fucking village. Did it with a smile, not a grimace.”
Monica Rocha and Malik Malo featuring The Intuitions, “I Love You For All Seasons (Live)” – Picking up the thread of vintage West Coast soul guitar that was part of the mix on the previous track, this instant classic sweet soul duet between California natives Monica Rocha and Malik Malo, is quintessential wandering through sunny streets or driving slow music, with the rich harmonies of The Intuitions pushing it over the top. “I love you for so many reasons.”
Captain Fathands, “The Great Flood” – I remember a conversation at the St James tavern almost two decades ago where childhood friend, bassist/composer Captain Fathands (probably best known musically for his time in the nu-metal comers Groundwar but also the rap-rock fusion The Wick and a series of cover bands) about his desire to put out soundtracks. His music for the wildly popular podcast True Crime Garage the Captain hosts with his brother is frequently my favorite part of the episodes, and I’m delighted to see him expanding and releasing full tracks in this mode like this shadow-splashed, surging piece.
Buscrates, “Early Morning” – Pittsburgh-based Orlando “Buscrates” Marshall gives us a sun-drenched, loping, utterly infectious instrumental that nods to Dam-Funk and a history of classic roller skating jams and hints at early Detroit techno in the best way. That rhythm somewhere between a hip dip and a finger snap falls squarely in my sweet spot.
Amy Douglas and JKriv, “Freak at Night” – The bouncing, fluid bass line on this courtesy of JKriv doesn’t just set up a backdrop for Amy Douglas’s knock-you-against-the-back-wall sharp disco vocal; the two things joust with one another. The dance floor as seduction and cage match, teetering over the edge but always pulling itself back. “She’s a freak at night. She’s got to satisfy her appetite.”
The Crystal Furs, “Gay Bar” – One of my guilty pleasures of all time – and I can do 1,000 words on the problematic concept of a guilty pleasure just like the next blowhard, but you should find me in a bar to go in on that – is that first Electric Six album; as much as I love this song, I wondered how it’s aged. Portland-based queer three-piece Crystal Furs find the pure joy that’s still in this track and give it a contemporary updating that maybe improves on the original’s infectiousness. Kara Buchanan’s Farfisa organ is a particular delight for me on this track.
Mightmare, “Can’t Get What I Want” – One of my favorite singer-songwriters working, Sarah Shook, stretches their wings to go different places stylistically with the indie rock project Mightmare. Their voice is right up front over ominous, decay-laden guitars and a crunching postpunk beat. “Anger makes a lonely man. I got things to say I don’t think I can.”
Ivan Julian, “Cut Me Loose” – Ivan Julian’s guitar is the blood through the veins of a particular swath of New York music I’ve loved since the moment I heard Blank Generation, and beyond his long association with Richard Hell, he’s lit up records I’ve loved by Matthew Sweet, Sandra Bernhard, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, King Missile, and Hunx. The solo record Swing Your Lanterns, and this barbed punk-funk lead-off track is an excellent example of what he’s given to American music and, with a cast of underground music lifers like Florent Barbier and Nicholas Tremulis, still sounds incredibly vital. “I know you brought a whole new bag of hurt from Tennessee and a brand new box of pain that you just found. I kissed you, and I put you on a train; you bit me, and you said we’d meet again.”
Kalle Hygien, “Dope Him Up” – This dose of synth-and-drum-machine Swedish punk is adrenaline right into my veins. “His mouth looks like an enema, we’re going to the cinema.”
Cerified Trapper, “Trapper of the Year” – The liquid synths and dry, crackling drums are a perfect jumping off point for the furious braggadocio from this rising Milwaukee star, who produced as well. “Tweak out in the store, get hit with this fuckin’ switchy.”
Izzaldin, “Spike” – This advance single off the third record – Futura in Retrograde – from rising New York rapper-producer Izzaldin rides a subway-under-not-well-maintained-streets rumble of synth bass and boom bap drums refracted through some contemporary damage with a baritone voice that feels both familiar and fresh. This checked all my boxes. “Took a shot from the three-point arc, took a seat next to Spike just to see the star. I thought it started off as friendly banter: and then he started really disrespecting Indiana, talking ’bout ‘There ain’t gonna be no Pacers shit in here.'”
Jay Vega featuring King Ezz and OG VERN, “Smackdown Vs. Raw” – This miniature uses a deceptively easy swagger for a perfect showcase for Columbus producer and rapper Jay Vega, who worked on this with King Ezz and features a verse from OG Vern. Distilled to around two minutes and with no room for filigree. “”No bad business, that ain’t on my name: what they say ’bout you?”
System Exclusive, “Party All the TIme” – Pasadena synth-pop duo System Exclusive hit my radar with this surging post-punk take on one of my favorite ’80s guilty pleasures, this Rick James/Eddie Murphy collaboration. “You never come home at night because you’re out romancing. I wish you’d bring some of your love home to me.”
King Vision Ultra featuring DJ Haram, Marcus, Dis Fig, “Tragic World Weapon” – I’m not sure how I’ve slept on King Vision Ultra so long but the Algiers connection put this on my radar and it’s exactly the kind of record I love. King Vision Ultra worked with the original stems from Algiers’ record Shook and intertwined them with his own archive to create Shook World (Hosted By Algiers), an investigation of histories, his hometown of New York, his relationships with people, and of the ways we hurt ourselves and one another. DJ Haram from the Discwoman crew supplies the lacerating poetry here, with Berlin-based producer Dis Fig on the sung vocals and a turntablist I wasn’t familiar with, Marcus, adding a perfectly unbalancing layer. “You can’t affirm this madness but I like to imagine it.”
The OG Players, “Third Eye Vibe” – Columbus hip-hop/soul super group OG Players consists of trombonist Elaine Mylius (Waves de Ache, Derek DiCenzo), MC/Producer Eric Rollin (Mistar Anderson), Producer Kito Denham, keyboardist Brandon “Bjazz” Scott (Liquid Crystal Project), and drummer Robert Riley aka Dezoul1 (Talisha Holmes). I had high expectations having seen all – I think, I couldn’t swear I’ve heard Denham’s other work – of their earlier projects and this first single hit it over the fences for me, the loping finger-snap rhythm and that infectious, squelching long, slow drive on a sunny day keyboard part. “Let me tell you about a secret to see us through.”
Marquis Hill featuring Joel Ross, “Stretch (The Body)” – The first time I saw Chicago’s Marquis HIll play the trumpet – at Winter Jazzfest – it cut through everything else that night, burning both his name and that tone into my brain. Hill aligns a tight rhythm section anchored by Junius Paul on bass with Micheal King on keys, and new-to-me Indie Buz on drums, and special guests (the great vibes player Joel Ross on this track) to make something that stretches genres. This track bridges lighter flavors of drum ‘n’ and spiritual jazz, riding waves of small percussion instruments and wrapping a wordless chorus around a clattering beat from Buz pinballing back and forth between King’s Rhodes and Ross’s vibes, lit up by Hill’s searing trumpet and a sampled lackadaisical vocal that nods at Ken Nordine.
Chris Abrahams, Oren Ambarchi, and Robbie Avenaim, “Placelessness – Side B Excerpt” – Chris Abrahams, pianist from longstanding Aussie avant-garde trio The Necks teams up with guitarist/electronics player Oren Ambarchi (who I got into via SUNN O))) and a gorgeous eai record Cloud with Keith Rowe, Toshimaru Nakamura, and Christian Fennesz in the same year) and drummer Robbie Avenaim who’d done other work with Ambarchi I loved. This excerpt from the upcoming full-side piece is full of the powerfully understated drama and righteous mystery I want from these players and left me hungry for the whole thing.
Marisa Anderson and Tara Jane O’Neil, “Wishing Well” – This stunning collaboration on a Bert Jansch classic (written with Anne Briggs) features an OG of the kind of guitar that fuses the accessible and the avant-garde, sometimes disparate histories of the instrument and the future, Tara Jane O’Neil (also on vocals) from the great Louisville band Rodan (who I finally saw live at Terrastock 15-ish years ago) and someone carrying that torch high, Marisa Anderson. Clarity and clatter in exactly the right measures. “Wishing well, wilt thou waters hide my burden until I return, return this way again?”
Nora Stanley and Benny Bock, “Into the Flats” – Saxophonist Nora Stanley and keyboardist Benny Bock teamed up for a luminous collaborative record (they co-wrote all compositions and play almost everything heared) Distance of the Moon that reminds me of classic ECM but still has its arms around what’s come since. That splash of sparks from the keys washed over by a saxophone figure around 3:30 exemplifies what I love so much about this album. Drummer Myles Martin, a rising star on the LA scene I wasn’t familiar with and the only guest on this track, adds some fascinating color, less driving forward propulsion of the track and more presenting other options.
Emily King featuring Lukas Nelson, “Bad Memory” – Singer-songwriter Emily King has always been at the periphery of my awareness but this single from Special Occasion, a burnished, ’60s-vintage slow dance duet with Lukas Nelson landed squarely between my ribs. Their matched low-key vocals and that aching, echoing guitar, the clatter of castanets skipping across the languid melody like a polished stone, it’s all perfect. “Used to dream about my past, now I’m running from it fast.”
Melenas, “Bang” – The sense of similar tones getting stretched out and the pulsing krautrock beat gave me the sense of taking off from the last couple of songs in placing this lilting slice of pop-rock perfection from Pamploma-based band Melenas right here.
M. Ward featuring first aid kit, “Too Young To Die” – M. Ward’s Supernatural Thing reaffirms his status as one of the great melodists of my generation, full of examples of that rare gift of playing with retro sounds without seeming stuck in some other era. And this perfect example, aided by the sparkling harmonies of first aid kit, is one of the songs on the new one I go back to the most often. “Sailing, sometimes failing, that’s the only way, the only way to fly. Crying, sometimes wailing, that’s the only way that we learn how to try.”
Tommy Prine, “Mirror and a Kitchen Sink” – Tommy Prine’s This Far South, produced with Rushton Kelly and Gena Johnson, plants a flag in territory that’s clearly his own, using contemporary colors and rhythms alongside the kind of sharply defined characters and witty wordplay that defined his legendary father. This, like the M. Ward, was a hard call to make – I think at one point I had three songs from this record on the nascent version of this month’s playlist – but I kept coming back to the jaunty bounce of this track, that impossibly catchy acoustic guitar riff underpinning the gimlet gaze of the lyrics. “So what’s the difference between you and me? I’ll tell you right now, it’s a couple teeth. And then I decide whether or not to be crueler than I already am.”
Tanya Tucker featuring Brandi Carlile, “The List” – Sweet Texas Sound builds on the momentum and power of Tanya Tucker’s great comeback record While I’m Still Livin’, pairing her again with producers Shooter Jennings and Brandi Carlile. This track is one of several Tucker co-wrote with Carlile and it’s a brilliantly clear-eyed taking stock and kiss off, with a classic sawdust-spattered two-step backing highlighting Jennings’ piano and John Schreffler’s pedal steel. “I ain’t here to make excuses and I’ve since lost all track of my demons and their muses. But if you’re still keeping score, then you can keep your heart attack.”
Dale Watson, “I Ain’t Been Living Right” – Dale Watson leans into his spending more time in Texas after some fruitful years in Memphis with the lean and mean Starvation Box, inspired by the example of Marshall, Texas’s legendary son Leadbelly (the title is what Ledbetter’s father called the guitar). This acoustic-driven shuffle is exactly the slow twisting of a knife in the gut that I think Watson does better than any country artist and what drew me to him 25 years ago, making the most of every crevice and scar in that magnificent baritone. “Now, the older I get, I’m finding more regrets: regrets that have been lurking in my mind. Maybe I’ll find solace in my old age and forget I ain’t been living right.”
Brian Thornton and Iranian Female Composers Association featuring Katherine Bormann, Alicia Koelz, Eliesha Nelson, “And the Moses Drowned” – I’m ashamed to say I wasn’t familiar with the IFCA before this beautiful record Sirventès but I was a little more familiar with cellist Brian Thornton of the Cleveland Orchestra. The quartet he assembled for this evocative piece by Mahdis Golzar Kashani finds every bit of nuance and mystery, it’s a stunning lead-off to a marvelous record.
Tyshawn Sorey Trio, “Seleritus” – Tyshawn Sorey continues to dig into standards with surprising, breathtaking results on Continuing, his new record with Aaron Diehl on piano and Matt Brewer on bass. This gorgeous Ahmad Jamal piece gets to the heart of the fragility and power Jamal conjured simultaneously in a way few piano trios have been able to live up to since; it’s a magical reminder how much life still pumps through the veins of this music and also a stunning tribute to a generational artist who opened up an entirely new pathway in American music.
Greg Ward presents Rogue Parade, “Noir Nouveau” – Chicago-based saxophone player and composer Greg Ward’s quintet Rogue Parade’s follow up Dion’s Quest expounds on everything great from their debut Stomping Off From Greenwood. This appropriately smoky, hard-shadows track flanks a blue flame of a saxophone line with the sparkling guitars of Matt Gold and Dave Miller, and the rich, subtle rhythm section of Matt Ulery on bass and Quin Kirchner on drums.
Olivia Dean, “The Hardest Part” – British R&B singer-writer Olivia Dean’s debut full length Messy is a remarkable record, consistent and smooth – mostly cowritten with Bastian Langebæk and Max Wolfgang – but knowing exactly when and where to cut and how much of a mark to leave. This smoky slow-drag number exemplifies the mood I come back to this record for, reminding me of early Erykah Badu, and I can’t wait to see what else Dean turns into. “Call me up to meet you: static on the phone. Normally I need you; this time I don’t wanna go. Lately, I’ve been growing into someone you don’t know. You had the chance to love her, but apparently you don’t.”
Kris Gruen featuring Anaïs Mitchell “Anchors” – I’ve been hearing the name Kris Gruen – singer-songwriter son of famed photographer Bob – but it took seeing this luminous duet with one of my favorites, Anaïs Mitchell, to finally check his work out. It’s soaring and wistful, like a sunrise over the Hudson. “I forgive you, circle broken, by and by.”
Miranda Lambert and Leon Bridges, “If You Were Mine” – Two of my favorite Texas singer-songwriters of relatively (I still had roommates when I first heard Lambert so it’s been at least 20 years) recent vintage team up on a perfect example of finding middle ground, and that space where their voices meet on this perfect piece of longing, this moment frozen in amber, hits exactly right. “‘I’d drink you down like fine wine, till there was nothing left.”
Gus Dapperton featuring BENEE, “Don’t Let Me Down” – Another duet shot through with longing and promise but set to more of an insistent clubby rhythm, this duet between New York-based Guy Dapperton and New Zealand-centered BENEE has an extremely appealing groove; I especially love the way their voices melt around one another. “I’m just gonna burn out and fall out of my head.”
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Paal Nilssen-Love, “Part 2” – One insistent rhythm gives way to another. Nyemiah SThis classic Norwegian rhythm section who’ve lit me up so many times, live and on record, team up to pay tribute to the Trondheim Conservatory of Music where they met, on its 40th anniversary, with Guts & Skins. They assembled a killing octet featuring players whose work I know well like pianist/organist Alexander Hawkins and completely new to me like baritone saxophonist Hanne deBacker, and delivered a record that walks the line between post-bop and free jazz that doesn’t sell out the pleasures or core of either.
Nyemiah Supreme, “Last Day” – The stabbing cymbals and rumbling bass on the track for this electrifying song from rising Queens rapper Nyemiah Supreme seemed to call on the previous tracks and I was stunned by the crackle of her pavement-mosaic-dry delivery and the flashing wit of the wordplay. “There’s nowhere to get – all of that paper, you only enrich.”
Wireheads, “Detective” – The bluesy post-punk chug – Fall-ish vocals laid against a mournful harmonica like the smokestack of a passing train – of this Adelaide-based band made me immediately sorry I hadn’t heard their earlier work; Potentially Venus is a terrific rock record. “‘I’m merely scratched,’ he hollered. I am bothered less than Donna; she’s like a fire burning carefree in biosolids.”
Smug Brothers, “Let Me Know When It’s You” – I got turned onto the Smug Brothers through friend and Columbus locus Kyle Sowash’s involvement. This song is a lovely slice of middle-American powerpop, jangle poured over a crunching rhythm section like syrup, and it’s on a record The Book of Bad Ideas spilling over with these big hooks and sparkling harmonies. “When you think you’ve heard about a situation and you’re trying to tune into the conversation, you know I won’t pass the test and maybe that’s for the best.”
Byron Messia, “Talibans” – St Kitts-based dancehall artist Byron Messia is having a moment with this bolt-from-the-blue (at least to those of us outside the genre) smash hit. While I love dancehall, I don’t pretend my knowledge goes deep; this infectious, menacing watch-yourself tune with a smooth quaver in the vocal over clipped drums, caught my ear immediately. “Make unruh sleep inna yard in four months.”
Vox Sambou, “Libète (remix) – Montreal-based singer-bandleader Vox Sambou draws on the various music of the African disapora and mixes it in a way that never feels random or scattered. This single in advance of We Must Unite starts with the Haitian Creole word for freedom and builds to a powerful crescendo, rippling guitars and a thicket of percussion rising behind a powerful, ragged voice.
Ken Ishii, “Liver Blow (Ken Ishii 2023 Remix One)” – I got into Ken Ishii a little late – the Nonesuch compilation Reich Remixed came out when I was 18 or 19 and drew a connection between the electronic music I loved getting down to with my friends in clubs and at parties and the avant-garde classical I’d recently discovered. One of my favorite tracks was Ishii’s so I started grabbing anything of his I could find. When I finally got to see him spin in person with my old roommate and friend Jon Rood a couple of years later, in a club I don’t think lasted 9 months called Pulse, it was every bit as revelatory as I hoped. I haven’t done the best job of keeping track but this rework of a 2022 track hit my radar and it gives me the same jolts of experimentation and sensuality his work did when I first discovered it, without feeling like he’s been static.
Jorja Smith and Nia Archives, “Little Things (Nia Archives Remix)” – I don’t think it’s any surprise I think London’s Jorja Smith is one of the great soul singers to emerge in the last 10 years, and I’ve loved everything I’ve heard from Nia Archives. Their collab on this remix delivered on those high expectations and then some – the speeding up and layering it over post-jungle drums actually enhances the cold menace in Smith’s original; snippets of vocal dance in the air between the verses, like slivers of shattered mirror in an image I always remember from a poem of old pal Dave Gibbs. “It’s the little things that get me high. Won’t you come with me and spend the night?”
Tego Calderón, “La Receta” – One of the voices that helped define reggaeton to the world, Puerto Rican superstar Tego Calderón returns eight years after his last record, and over 20 since he first appeared, with this dance floor smash of the perreo variety, produced by DJ Urba & Rome. If this doesn’t make your hips move, I’m not sure what to tell you.
Tyson, “Promises” – Like the warm breeze coming in from a door opening on a cool dark bar just before the late-evening sunset of Jul while watching a carved ice cube tumble into a rocks glass that fits just so in your hand, this single by Tyson, the daughter of Neneh Cherry and Cameron McVey (Massive Attack, Groove Armada, Yossou N’Dour), is the perfect mix of sensations and architecture. The spaces and the echo around the sparse, crisp beats slit the skin to make space for that melody. “How do I read you when you’re giving me nothing?”
Miles Miller, “Passed Midnight” – Another perfectly constructed song keyed for the sweltering middle of summer, from Miles Miller, better known as Sturgill Simpson’s drummer, and exemplary of his stellar Solid Gold. “The shape I’m in doesn’t make me want to give you a call. You’re probably holding on so tight to somebody else tonight. Well, I’m holding on to nothing but the twilight; ain’t it a pretty sight?”
Jerry Joseph, “The War I Finally Won” – Singer-songwriter Jerry Joseph’s been making great records since the mid-’90s that completely flew under my radar until 2020’s breathtaking The Beautiful Madness and even that I heard late, so I’m still playing catch up. If this evocative barn burner, with a fiery tambourine so far up in the mix it feels like it might break the fourth wall and slap me in the face, is any indication, the follow-up Baby, You’re the Man Who Would Be King, is a record to watch out for coming up. “I see the enemy is still right here. Let me sleep till the morning; the indecision weighs a ton. I hear the trumpets blow, and I know it’s the war I finally won.”
PJ Harvey, “I Inside The Old Year Dying” – Like most old cranks who loved something so much at a formative time, it took me a while to get on board with the differently abstract, spacious music PJ Harvey’s making now. I kept holding her work to a yardstick based on the four-album run almost no one has ever come close to she put out in my youth. It finally opened up for me, cracking wide and letting me lose that chrysalis of bullshit, with the last record so I was ready for her excellent new one, of which this is the title track. Soaring and searing, an indictment and a call to arms. I’m not sure exactly where I think the “ending prayer” portion of this month’s playlist starts – the Miller or the Joseph – but this is where it hits critical mass. “Slip from my childhood skin; / I zing through the forest / I hover in the holway / And laugh into the leaves”
Spencer Zahn, Dave Harrington, Jeremy Gustin, “Daylight” – I’ve been a big fan of Spencer Zahn since our mutual friend Mike Gamble introduced us and turned me onto his band Father Figures – and he’s shown up in these playlists several times. I like the music of Harry Styles but I don’t know it all that well, and from the liner notes, neither did this trio when they decided to take it on, but this is the opposite of a piss take. This track, and the rest of A Visit to Harry’s House, treat the song forms with love and generosity but leave enough room to bring their own life to it, their own light, and leave us all smiling. Like you always want a visitor to leave.
Joni Mitchell and the Joni Jam, “Amelia” – As soon as I heard Joni Mitchell was singing again at Newport I watched those Youtube videos for the next week almost to the exclusion of everything else. This official recording – backed by a collection of musicians with Brandi Carlile and her band as the nucleus – makes me tear up every time. This version of a song from Hejira that’s not only given me comfort since I was a teenager but has changed with me, featuring a lovely vocal from Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith, is a stunning example of the kind of love and compassion this kind of tribute/celebration needs. “A ghost of aviation: she was swallowed by the sky, or by the sea. Like me, she had a dream to fly. Like Icarus ascending on beautiful, foolish arms – Amelia, it was just a false alarm.”

Tags 79.5, Amanda Shires, Amy Douglas, Anais Mitchell, Andre 3000, Annika Socolofsky, Aoife O'Donovan, BENEE, Benny Bock, BJ the Chicago Kid, Bobbie Nelson, Brandi Carlile, Brian Thornton, Buscrates, Byron Messia, Captain Fathands, Certified Trapper, Chris Abrahams, Dale Watson, Dark Colors, Dave Harrington, Dis Fig, DJ Olive, Dom Deshawn, Emily King, Eryn Allen Kane, First Aid Kit, Freddie Gibbs, Future, Gil Scott-Heron, Greg Ward, Gus Dapperton, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, Iranian Female Composers Association, Ivan Julian, Izzaldin, Javier Nero, Jay Vega, Jeremy Gustin, Jerry Joseph, Jess Williamson, JKriv, Joel Ross, Joni Mitchell, Jorja Smith, Josh Ritter, Kalle Hygien, Kek'star, Ken Ishii, Killer Mike, King Ezz, King Vision Ultra, Kris Gruen, Latitude 49, Leon Bridges, Lucas de Mulder, Lukas Nelson, M. Ward, Madison Cunningham, Malik Malo, Marcus, marisa anderson, marquis hill, Melenas, Mightmare, Miles Miller, Miranda Lambert, Monica Rocha, music, New Mastersounds, Nia Archives, Nora STanley, Nyemiah Supreme, OG VERN, Olivia Dean, Oren Ambarchi, Paal Nilssen-Love, PJ Harvey, Playlist, recorded music, Robbie Aveniam, Rogue Parade, Sarah Shook, Sexmob, Smug Brothers, Spencer Zahn, System Exclusive, Tanya Tucker, Tara Jane O'Neil, Tego Calderon, The Crystal Furs, The OG Players, Tommy Prine, Tyshawn Sorey, Tyson, Vox Sambou, Wireheads

Playlist record reviews

Playlist – May 2023

After a couple of months that felt like watching for a flower to bloom, but with the physical sensation of pulling teeth, I felt really energized and enthusiastic digging into stuff this time. That sensation carried over through a delightful return to Twangfest, full of not just my friends but some of my mentors and inspirations for loving music the way I do; where I wrote some of the later blurbs in the morning with coffee or in the airport waiting for my (delayed) flight, and now still riding that high a few days later. Thank you for listening, reading, or both. I love you all.

https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/3ebe3157-0377-4c01-b0cd-c0232238f508

Fred Davis, “Wine Hop” – Eli “Paperboy” Reed learned to play guitar with his father Howard Husock showing him tricks he’d learned from legendary Cleveland blues singer-guitarist Fred Davis (tragically murdered in 1988). Finding a tape of what are thought to be the only recordings Davis ever made, mostly with his band Dave and the Blues Express, Reed and his father cleaned up and released this stirring document (and also provided a marker for Davis’s grave). This grinding, growling jump blues is a perfect example of its type and a reminder to treasure the heroes in your town – and record what you can – because it may leave only memories.
Janelle Monae featuring Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, “Float” – This opening salvo from Janelle Monae’s The Age of Pleasure is a rich, powerful statement of intent, using the massed horns and power of Seun Kuti’s Egypt 80 – who my pal Andrew and I saw at the Alrosa Villa (RIP) – in a restrained, sensuous way. One of my favorite grooves of the year so far in a field with stiff competition. “I don’t dance; I just float.”
Amanda Shires and Bobbie Nelson featuring Willie Nelson, “Summertime” – The heads always knew, but it feels like it was only in the last 10 or so years of her life that pianist Bobbie Nelson received more of the just acclaim she deserved as brother Willie Nelson’s right hand/the key instrumental voice in The Family through so many changes. That reputation was helped by some duo records – and a heart-breaking joint memoir – and I think this collaborative record with fellow Texan, singer-fiddle player Amanda Shires, is going to help keep that reevaluation rolling. This gorgeous romp through the Gershwins’ “Summertime” stands up against any of the hundreds I’ve heard over the years. “Hush, little baby, don’t you cry.”
Valerie June featuring Bill Frisell, “Handsome Molly” – Tribute albums used to be kind of cast-off/throwaways, but the last year has given us some really stunning examples of the form, and I Am a Pilgrim: Doc Watson at 100 is another shining example. It’s full of beautiful performances that honor the thick, intricate rhythm and keening emotional content Doc Watson gave to roots music while also applying everything the artists know about the songs and themselves. This read on “Handsome Molly” with Valerie June’s intriguing, powerful vocal and Bill Frisell’s shadowy, echo-drenched guitar is a stellar example. “While sailing around the ocean, while sailing around the sea, I’ll dream of handsome Molly, wherever she might be.”
Shirley Collins, “Hares on the Mountain” – I’ve been a fan of Shirley Collins since my early Current 93 fandom, with David Tibet issuing a compilation of her work that sent me on a long and merry chase. And she’s still putting out astonishing work. Here, she revisits a mournful traditional she first recorded with legendary British folk guitarist Davey Graham, with subtle production from Ian Kearney, highlighting a haunting slide guitar. “If all you young men were fish in the water, how many young girls would undress and dive after?”
Peter Brotzmann, Majid Bekkas, Hamid Drake, “Balini” – Multi-reed player Peter Brotzmann injected a palpable energy into the European free jazz scene in the ’60s, and conjured a similar ferocity in the ’90s/early ’00s Chicago scene I first fell in love with. There have always been other textures and other passions in his sound – I remember being stunned by the solo record 14 Love Songs as a teenager – but he’s gone deeper into those in recent years, in his ’80s. The live record Catching Ghosts, captured at the 2022 Berlin Jazzfest, continues his investigations into Gnaouan music, teaming Brotzmann and longtime collaborator Hamid Drake with singer-guembri player Majid Bekkas.
Baby Rose featuring Smino, “I Won’t Tell” – This highlight from Baby Rose’s sophomore album Through and Through is one of my favorite examples of playing with classic disco tropes in a while. The clipped rhythm and throaty singing that at times recalls Nina Simone and early Macy Gray send me. “Some need emotion; I’ll take the thrill.”
Holy Tongue, “Saeta” – The debut full-length from London-based collaboration between percussionist Valentina Magaletti, multi-instrumentalist Al Wooton, and bassist Susumi Makai, layers on additional textures to the earlier dark ambient work. This opening track surges with ecstatic brass courtesy of David Wootton before shifting into a more contained intensity.
Fred again… and Brian Eno, “Secret” – I was vaguely aware of Fred again as a songwriter on those Brian Eno/Karl Hyde records, but I completely missed his Actual Life records until hearing Jon Caramanica talk about them on the New York Times’ Popcast. Of course, I loved them, they were right in my wheelhouse, and so I was primed for this full collaboration with Eno. I love the magpie energy, the way Fred strings together influences in ways that honor them but don’t feel handcuffed to history. I found the record as a whole to be hit and miss, but I loved this repurposing of some lyrics from Leonard Cohen’s “In My Secret Life” into immaculately carved and broken soundscapes for a long night of the soul. “Hold on, hold on, my brother. My sister, hold on tight. Finally found my whole life, so I’ve been marchin’ through the morning, marchin’ through the night. Moving ‘cross the borders of my secret life.”
Morgan Peros, “Last Straw” – Violinist-arranger Morgan Peros steps in front with this irresistible single highlighting her gifts as a singer-songwriter. I love the sudden flurry of drums toward the end before the strings and synths break the track open. “People talk about last straws: forgiveness, belonging, and betrayal. They load up their weapons, hide their loneliness, cling to a portrayal. I’ll be looking for beauty in the broken.”
The Baseball Project, “Journeyman” – This indie rock super group, Peter Buck and Mike Mills of R.E.M, Scott McCaughey from the Minus Five (and longtime touring member of R.E.M.), Steve Wynn from the Dream Syndicate, Linda Pitmon from ZuZu’s Petals and Golden Smog (and for many years, in Wynn’s Miracle 3), has extended into four records and this advance single from Grand Salami Time, co-written by Buck and Wynn, has a beautiful desert-sky melancholy running through it. “Always keep my bags packed. Never get too close to anyone. Long as there’s someone who needs me, down the road I go.”
The Gaslight Anthem, “Positive Charge” – It’s no secret to anyone reading this I’ve got a massive soft-spot for wordy anthemic rock, and that weakness most obviously manifests itself in my unabashed (mostly) love for the Gaslight Anthem. This early single from their reunion period, produced by Peter Katis, plants Brian Fallon’s voice in the thick of the other sounds instead of dragging it in front. and highlights the shadowy spaces between the bright slashes of guitar, while also playing up the deep undertow of the drums. It feels thick, it feels heavy with life in a way I find really appealing. “I need a positive charge. Plug it into my veins, make me love this life again.”
Who Parked the Car, “Sunburns” – Parisian collective Who Parked The Car made a terrific album of low-key R&B that feels like sliding down those streets in the dark. The deep hookup between Thomas Salvatore’s keys and Alejandro Dixon’s drums reminds me of the best of Cory Henry’s ballads and Laura Wamble’s vocal drives the mood deep. “Stay one more day.”
Mark Chang, “Turning Pages” – For me, this strikes a similar mood as the last song. I couldn’t find much about this Hong Kong-based singer-songwriter but it feels like he’s merging a more direct emo singing influence with the emo textures that have been prevalent in R&B for the last decade. “There’s no point in trying to change what no one can control.”
Naya Baaz, “Charm” – Naya Baaz, roughly translated as New Falcon, teams sitar player Josh Feinberg with jazz guitarist Rez Abbasi and a rhythm section of Jennifer Vincent on five-string cello and drummer Satoshi Takeishi, for a keening record fully of melodies that are hard to shake and explorations that always have a narrative propulsion. This title track is a beautiful blending of their styles I keep coming back to.
Fat Tony and Blockhead, “I’m Thinking ‘Bout Moving” – Like a lot of people my age, I fell in love with Blockhead’s beats on those early Aesop Rock records, and very shortly after a few of my favorite tracks on Columbus rapper Illogic’s Got Lyrics. I haven’t kept up very closely, but anytime something he’s worked on hits my radar, I’m happy to hear it and it’s always of interest. This pairing with Houston rapper Fat Tony is a hand-in-glove fit, humid and languid, perfect for this narrative I’m overjoyed I’m years away from being relatable. “When my girl over, one roommate look at her strange. He always wanna small talk and mispronounce her name. The living room littered with beer, cassette tapes and weed – all are his.”
Rocket 808, “House of Jackpots” – Rocket 808, John Schooley’s solo electric guitar and vocals with drum machine project, are one of my favorite bands from recent Gonerfests, and this instrumental title track off the new record finds him dipping more into texture and expanse than the sharp jabs of songs he first wowed me with.
Rich the Kid featuring Rema, Arya Starr, and KDDO, “Yeh Yeh” – This new single from Atlanta rapper Rich the Kid felt like it fit with the heat-mirage distorted landscapes of the previous few songs. The choice of collaborators here – Nigerian singers Rema, Arya Starr, and producer KDDO – helps this soar: the blending of their different voices and effects moves me every time. “We come alive in the night time and won’t let it die. And all the drinks I pour in, is it more that we dance?”
Gotopo featuring Don Elektron, “Piña pa la Niña” – Berlin-based and South American-raised singer-songwriter Gotopop crafted a phenomenal, mysterious, multifaceted groove of a record with Sacúdete and this collaboration with Latin electronic music superstar Don Elektron is high on that list of songs I can never stay in a bad mood after hearing.
Cyril Cyril and the Meridian Brothers, “Diablos de Chuao” – The duo of Cyril Yeterian, formerly of Swiss-Cajun band Mama Rosin, and Swiss experimental music maven Cyril Bondi, team up with Eblis Álvarez in his Meridian Brothers guise (and if you haven’t had your ear bent by me about the Meridian Brothers’ live incarnation at Big Ears recently, trust that it’s coming) for this infectious slab of heaving, accordion-driven Latin soul.
Black Market Brass, “Rat Trap” – I believe it was my pal Andrew who tipped me off to this single, on the can’t-miss Colemine label, from recent favorites Black Market Brass. The serrated horn stabs and choppy guitar sum up everything I’m looking for from this great Minneapolis band, and this should be part of the mix at any party for the forseeable future, while also getting me excited for their next full-length in the fall.
The Whiffs, “I Didn’t Need You to Know” – This sunrise-bright slice of powerpop from the Kansas City band The Whiffs is a prime example of what that genre does so well. A cry in the dark and a catchiness that can’t be denied, one of many highlights on their terrific record Scratch ‘N’ Sniff.
Rodney Crowell, “You’re Supposed to be Feeling Good” – Since his career rebirth with The Houston Kid – and make no mistake, I love a whole lot of Crowell songs before then – Rodney Crowell has refined his work into a new plane of clarity and consistency. His new one, The Chicago Sessions, with Jeff Tweedy, like recent Tweedy productions for Mavis Staples and Richard Thompson, puts his voice front and center and finds the perfect, stripped-down textures for another great collection of Crowell work. This lilting apology/admonition originally (I think) recorded by Emmylou Harris on her landmark Luxury Liner album gets a lived-in treatment like a worn leather jacket you finally know every crease in, with some lovely frayed-around-the-edges soul falsetto from Crowell and some great guitar from Jeff Tweedy. “Soulmate, the blues are deceiving. It keeps us believing we’re on the wrong road.”
ANHONI, “It Must Change” – ANHONI harkens back to her early soul/orchestral pop influences on this beautiful new single, coming in advance of a new record My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross, her first work billed as “And the Johnsons” since 2010. That soaring bridge, repeating the lines “That’s why this is so sad,” breaks me every time.
ARTEMIS, “Bow and Arrow” – Contemporary jazz supergroup ARTEMIS return with a second album, In Real Time, that maybe even betters their stunning debut. This track written by drummer Allison Miller and arranged by pianist Renee Rosnes boasts a stunning alto solo from Alexa Tarantino and sizzling trumpet work from Ingrid Jensen in an almost-telepathic ensemble.
Oval, “Ohno” – Seeing Oval (Markus Popp) in a tiny gallery space next to one of Columbus’s only (at the time) vegan restaurants, Dragonfly, was a mind-melting experience for me. I couldn’t believe “art music”, much less laptop music, could be that powerful and that almighty loud. He moved around and shaped broken sound – much of his early work came from a program that mirrored skipping CDs – in a way that tied back to an entire history to musique concrete and Fluxus but still felt like it was speaking to now. It blew my 20 (21?) year old mind. But while I was a big fan for a few years, I didn’t keep up. A notice of this new record Romantiq caught my eye and he’s added in lusher harmonies and deliberate tempos into that sense of the artfully broken for something truly beautiful.
Khanate, “It Wants to Fly” – Another act I saw around the same time I saw Oval, but in a more traditional dive bar venue, the much-missed High Five (it’s a “fancy” taco place now in the tradition of all things Columbus, at least Dragonfly and Neo are still good restaurants). The pulverizing slowness of drone/doom metal supergroup Khanate (featuring favorites of mine Tim Wyskida and Stephen O’Malley) didn’t quite connect with me in that club, that night, with a cold beer in my hand – or at least they had a hard time competing with OGs of the genre working a new pastoral set of turf, Earth, who they were on the bill with. But I kept going back to those records, and their out-of-nowhere resurgence album To Be Cruel blew my hair back in the best way. “We’re going down.”
Saint Harison, “ego talkin'” – UK singer-songwriter Saint Harison caught my attention with this stunning single – finding beauty in devastation in a way that’s certainly at an angle from the last couple of songs but felt like it shares emotional space with them. “Admittance is the key to start the healing right, but I didn’t want to eat that humble pie.”
Sunny Sweeney, Miko Marks, Rissi Palmer, and Tami Neilson, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” – This Mount Rushmore-style collection of some of the best singers and songwriters in contemporary country music teams up for a ferocious, slow-burn, soul-infused read on the Bob Dylan classic. “We never did too much talking, anyway.”
Jordyn Shellhart, “On a Piano Bench Getting Wasted” – This song by Nashville writer-singer Jordyn Shellhart had me hook, line and sinker with its first line of “With a loneliness that’s pervasive, on a piano bench getting wasted,” piano-driven with subtle flashes of handclaps and string bass for the first third before a fuller arrangement blooms, Shellhart’s questioning voice hangs in the center like a single film noir bolt of light.
Bob Martin, “Stella” – I learned about Bob Martin’s landmark 1972 album Midwest Farm Disaster from my pal Jerry DeCicca and a few years later I remember being on the patio of a club talking about the work he was doing to produce a new record of Martin’s material. The results of that, a beautiful record called Seabrook, finally came out this year in the wake of Martin’s passing, his first record in something like a decade. It’s a beautiful, wistful piece conjuring and dancing with ghosts; every curve and crack in Martin’s voice up front with Sven Kahns’ pedal steel curling around it like smoke. Get well, soon, Jerry; the world needs your wit and empathy, and we can use as many more records like this (and of your own material) as you have time for. “She said, ‘God, you should have seen him then, before the money and the fame. His face was like sweet Jesus and his hide was like a flame. But his life was all on fire and there was nothing you could say to hold him down in this small down and try to make him stay.”
Morgan Wade, “Psychopath” – I liked Nashville songwriter Morgan Wade’s last record, Reckless, but if this first single is any indication her new record in August (also named Psychopath) is going to be a world-beater. Swirling keyboards and pedal steel highlighting a slow, menacing stomp around a lyric full of declarations with a question stuck through them like the pin in a voodoo doll and questions that aren’t really questions. “You might be the death of me. Throw my ashes out into the sea; get drunk and give your eulogy. You might be the death of me.”
Layng Martine Jr., ” Try Me Again” – I grew up with Layng Martine Jr’s songs for Reba McEntire and Trisha Yearwood, but I have to confess I was more familiar with his son, the producer Tucker Martine’s, work. So this collaboration, Music Man, was a beautiful surprise. This easy swinging barroom slow dance plea for another chance exemplifies what keeps me going back to the record. “Well, I never understood just what you needed, ’til you were gone and I was all alone. Now I know the ways I’d love to touch you are just what you had wanted all along.”
Wally B. Seck, “Waka Waka” – I became a fan of Wally Seck through a conversation in a Lyft with a driver about his father Thione Seck, and the younger Seck continues to come into his own with one great single after another. The easy, sun-on-a-brook groove of this tune provides the perfect propulsion for Seck’s light, dancing tenor. “Baby say me deep in, I deep in.”
Summer Walker, “Mind Yo Mouth” – Summer Walker got my attention with her last record, Still Over It, and this new EP Clear 2: Soft Life is one classic after another. This miniature, with a silky arrangements, updates the slacker boy genre with an unsparing specficity delivered in a sweet and spiked tone. “They say, ‘Hush girl, mind your mouth; you don’t wanna turn him off.’ Well he might have to deal with it. See I pay my own bills, get it? Why I gotta be so soft? Charmin. I find it quite alarming ’cause I ain’t ya mama. Wanna be with me then you gon’ get up off your bottom.”
Ian Hunter, “Pavlov’s Dog” – Another easy-going groove and a perfect example of how a midtempo rock tune can still pack such a powerful emotional punch. This standout track from Ian Hunter’s solid front-to-back Defiance Part 1 teams him with Stone Temple Pilots’ core Robert and Dean DeLeo and Eric Kretz, and longtime vocal foils Andy York and Dennis Dibrizzi. “I’ve got a job to do.”
Scar Lip, “This is New York” – The creep of the groove, the ominous strings, and the tone of defiance on this felt like an expansion and escalation of the sound worlds of the last couple tracks Scar Lip’s bitten-off vocal delivery makes a meal out of this track with lines I’ve been quoting for weeks since hearing it. “Don’t come to Queens with that shit because we ain’t fuckin’ with that shit. Get the fuck out, go to PA with that shit.”
Alvorada, “Decadência” – I couldn’t find much about this Brazilian band, whose name refers to the palace the president lives in, except that I don’t believe they’re the UK-based band of the same name who specialize in the instrumental form of choro music. This takes a Beatles-y vocal including harmonies and adds some sheets of shearing, acidic guitar.
Peso Pluma featuring Jasiel Nuñez, “Rosa Pastel” – Peso Pluma is one of the Mexican artists getting a large international office with updatings of the narcocorrido form; he emphasizes an aggressive rhythm that belies some rap and reggaeton influence but the songs also recall the classic genre tropes, like the smeared trumpets and the mournful guitar break on this gorgeous song.
The Ironsides, “Violet Vanished” – Great friend Andrew Patton turned me onto California’s cinematic soul band The Ironsides’s new record Changing Light over lunch a few weeks ago; we’d both been fans of their earlier singles and EPs. Taken as a whole, it’s a little plodding for me, but once I put it on, I have a hard time being made because they’re such gorgeous, lush landscapes to sink into. For pouring yourself a glass of something sweet and smooth, lighting a smoke, and luxuriating.
Brent Cordero and Peter Kerlin, “Affordable For Who” – This collaboration from the Psychic Ill’s Brent Cordero and Sunwatchers’ Peter Kerlin, also feels like it deals in landscapes but of a more psychedelic bent, rich with non-Euclidean geometry; meditative passages suddenly rupture into fields of soft beauty that is then beset upon with spikes. This track adds Aaron Siegel on vibes and drummer Ryan Jewell to flesh out the smooth corners and rough edges.
Lesley Mok, “again, all” – Continuing the trend of music made for contemplation that works equally well but very differently in practice, in smoky rooms and long walks through wooded passages, drummer-composer Lesley Mok’s made one of my favorite records of chamber jazz in a long time with The Living Collection. The murderer’s row of players she’s assembled doesn’t hurt either, with Adam O’Farrill’s menacing but vulnerable trumpet leading the charge, Cory Smythe’s piano like falling leaves and like the lightning around the thunderstom of Mok’s drums, Leon and Uesaka’s interlacing, battling reeds. Every part of this ensemble and record is magic.
Billy Woods and Kenny Segal, “The Layover” – I’ve talked plenty about New York rapper Billy Woods, but Maps, reinvigorating his collaboration with LA-based producer Kenny Segal (Abstract Rude, Freestyle Fellowship), is my favorite thing of his since the collaboration with Moor Mother a year or two ago. This track combines crunching drums with ice-knife piano, and a whisper of a horn section. “Before history, I made fire in the cave – midwifery, delivery a ball of rage. Hide and go seek: some never find a hiding place, some kids hid so well they never found a trace. It’s too late, but they came all the same; eyes begging for something for the pain.”
Califone, “comedy” – A new record from Tim Rutili’s shifting collective Califone is always a cause for celebration in my world, and Villagers is another home run. This woozy, cracked confession/indictment, drunk on horns and emboldened with sweet harmony vocals, is a perfect example of what I love about the album and their work in general. “Are you my enemy? Made to make you a little less alone?”
Whitney Rose, “Tell Me A Story, Babe” – At a similar nothing-to-prove tempo, Canadian singer-songwriter Whitney Rose, who I mostly knew from her work with Raul Malo, affirms the beauty and power of a straight-forward country record. Almost no one writes classic honky tonk ballads like this album opener anymore, and we’re all the richer for her example. “Tell me something from when you were a child. Just bring something up, babe, we have got all night.”
Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, “Nightriding” – Marty Stuart is a shining example of following your own tastes, your own intuition, and especially your own curiosity. For someone who literally knows everyone in Nashville – and there are some judicious guest stars – he loves and honors this stable lineup of his Fabulous Superlatives (Chris Scruggs, Harry Stinson, Kenny Vaughan) not only by letting them stretch out on the various genres he dips into on Altitude but by crediting them as co-producers alongside the engineer Mick Conley. This song is a seductive slab of last call ’60s country-soul, done as well as anyone’s doing it these days. “Everywhere you look, read ’em like a book. Nightriding.”
Brandy Clark, “Up Above the Clouds (Cecilia’s Song)” – Brandy Clark’s 12 Stories knocked me off my chair when it came out about 10 years ago. I remember distinctly bending Ed Mann’s ear about it in a bar, and telling my other pal Brian Galensky at the bar he owned it contained the best Kris Kristofferson-style songs anyone was writing. Since then, she’s made great record after great record (“Pawn Shop” off the last one kills me” but this new eponymous album, produced by Brandi Carlile, comes the closest to matching that debut pound for pound without just working over that same ground. This mosaic of shattered heart-glass welded together with hope and a keen understanding of human nature, was the first song on the album to make me stop everything else I was doing and give it my full attention, but it’s not alone. “When your blue eyes are cryin’ ’cause love’s let you down; when a fool’s dream is dyin’ and the sunshine’s all run out, remember there’s a blue sky up above the clouds.”
Leyla McCalla, Joy Clark, Lilli Lewis, Sabine McCalla, Sula Spirit, and Cassie Watson Francillon, “Freedom is a Constant Struggle” – As usual, I end the playlist with a couple of songs worth of benediction or prayer. This Roberta Slavitt song, popularized by the Freedom Singers, gets a stirring read led by singer Leyla McCalla and a stellar collection of other voices. “They say that freedom is a constant dying. Oh Lord, we’ve died so long that we must be free. We must be free.”

Tags Alvorada, Amanda Shires, ANHONI, ARTEMIS, Arya Starr, Baby Rose, Baseball Project, Bill Frisell, Billy Woods, Black Market Brass, Blockhead, Bob Martin, Bobbie Nelson, Brandy Clark, Brent Cordero, Brian Eno, Califone, Cassie Watson Francillon, Cyril Cyril, Don Elektron, Fat Tony, Fred again..., Fred Davis, Gaslight Anthem, Gotopo, Hamid Drake, Holy Tongue, Ian Hunter, Janelle Monae, Jasiel Nunez, Jordyn Shellhart, Joy Clark, KDDO, Kenny Segal, Khanate, Layng Martine Jr., Lesley Mok, Leyla McCalla, Lilli Lewis, Majid Bekkas, Mark Chang, Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, Meridian Brothers, Miko Marks, Morgan Peros, Morgan Wade, music, Naya Baaz, Oval, Peso Pluma, Peter Brotzmann, Peter Cordero, Peter Kerlin, Playlist, recorded music, Rema, Rissi Palmer, Rocket 808, Rodney Crowell, Sabina McCalla, Saint Harison, Scar Lip, Seun Kuti, Shirley Collins, Smino, Sula Spirit, Summer Walker, Sunny Sweeney, Tami Neilson, The Ironsides, The Whiffs, Valerie June, Wally B. Seck, Whitney Rose, Who Parked the Car, Willie Nelson

Best Of Playlist record reviews

Playlist – 2022 Songs

As with the last few years, the songs on this playlist are a combination of selections from my favorite records of the year, songs on records that might not have worked for me all the way through but I couldn’t get out of my head, and a smattering from some favorite revivals. “Songs” vs. “Spaces” mean the pieces are mostly – not always – more concise, and mostly, but not always, have vocals. It’s obviously subjective, and if I did the same exercise three months from now, probably 25% of each would fall on the other side of the fence.

https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/6c921c1c-caa0-41a3-82a8-10407b1ecb8c

Anteloper, “Earthlings” – Not even bothering with a spoiler warning: each of the playlists starts with Jaimie Branch. Even only interacting with her in those small bursts, I was really shaken by her death, and the work she put out this year makes that loss hurt even more because she was hitting her stride. This project with drummer Jason Nazary, produced and with extra instrumentation from the great Jeff Parker, was one of the most beguiling anything I heard all year. The stuttered, light drum ‘n’ bass drumming and infectious, overlapping synth and guitar hooks create a perfect background for Branch’s laid-back, mysterious vocal that’s somewhere between ’70s proto-rap, ’50s jazz poetry, and ’90s underground hip-hop, 100% breezy. “We are not the earthlings that you know. It really makes you think, though. Really makes me think. Really makes me drink, yo.”
Florence and the Machine, “Free” – There isn’t a song I don’t love on Florence and the Machine’s most fully realized record, Dance Fever, but this one has my favorite opening line of any song this year: “Sometimes I wonder if I should be medicated,” and a line toward the end that kept me going and gave me hope throughout the year: “Is this how it is? Is this how it’s always been? To exist in the face of suffering and death and somehow still keep singing?” With a groove that works as well for dancing alone in your bedroom or in the crush of strangers and a vocal that reminds me of my favorite dramatic Nick Cave moments but doesn’t sound like anyone else.
Eli “Paperboy” Reed, “I”m Bringing Home Good News” – I’ve enjoyed Eli “Paperboy” Reed’s detours of the last couple of albums a lot but hearing him back with a gutbucket rhythm section and a raging torrent of horns felt like coming home in the best way. And grappling with the catalog of one of the great American songwriters, Merle Haggard, throughout Down Every Road is a perfect mix. This ironic kiss-off hits exactly the right tones of righteous anger and righteous exuberance at freedom. “I was sitting downtown in a tavern when I made up my mind to go. And I knew you would be so glad to be free; I just thought to call to let you know.”
Soul Glo, “Gold Chain Punk (whogonbeatmyass?)” – Philly’s Soul Glo made their strongest, most expansive record yet without sacrificing any of the intensity or fury that hardcore’s always been known for. Not just an adrenaline shot – though it’s damn sure that too – this song is a journey, with some of the most impassioned, empathetic singing I’ve heard all year, from Pierce Jordan. “Giving so littlе takes so much, putting in work to look like he don’t givе a fuck. It’s worth it to pretend you never get wound up and shrug it off and put half on the Sag’ cusp. Just kidding, I’m’a hold it forever.”
Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra with Catherine Russell, “River’s Invitation” – One of the last shows I saw in 2020, at LPR for Winter Jazzfest, was the MTO with Cat Russell singing, and it exceeded my high expectations for those two titans of not only American music but specifically for interpretations. So I was overjoyed when a record came out documenting that collaboration, Good Time Music. Their take on one of my favorite Percy Mayfield compositions balances a boisterous swing, a keen wit, and a dark heart. The arrangement highlights the longtime camaraderie of this band, giving everyone space to stretch out without losing the path, and Bernstein’s greasy trumpet solo and Russell’s loose, wry vocal send it to outer space. “Well, I don’t want to leave him, because I know he’s still alive. Someday I’m gonna find him and I’ll take him for a ride. And we’ll spend our days together in our home beneath the tide.”
Say She She, “Fortune Teller” – Dropping back into a more laid-back gear with Say She She, a newish Colemine signing who reminds me more of Philly roller rink sweetness and sun-dappled Cali soul than the harder funk and soul the label first hooked me with. The infectious harmonies of Nya Parker Gazelle, Piya Malik & Sabrina Cunningham, and the rich organ lines kept this in rotation for me all year, and I can’t wait to see this Brooklyn band live. “When you look up to the sky, and you can’t tell how high it is when you’re spinning into space, and you’re starting to lose faith, be safe. With me.”
Lady Wray, “Through It All” – I’d been a fan of Nicole Wray’s work as a featured artist and harmony singer through most of my adult life, from her work on Missy Elliott’s Supa Dupa Fly, with Lee Fields, the Black Keys, the duo Lady. But somehow her solo work missed me until Piece of Me knocked me out of my damn seat. A perfect slice of soul music, calling on all eras of the music’s history and making it all feel brand new. “Through it all, I can’t complain; it feels so good. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
Maya de Vitry, “How Bad I Wanna Live” – Someone else I was late coming to, but violinist and singer de Vitry’s Violet Light gave me quite a bit of comfort this year, and I thought this song fit between these two in the sense of a sun-and-shadow cocktail painting the reasons to go on, the reasons to keep living and loving, even when it doesn’t make sense or when the reasons on the other side are stacked so tall. “Here on my knees on the wet, red clay, Death sings below in the ocean. All you goats and angels, I’m not dying today. I’m not dying today.”
Gabriel Kahane, “Sit Shiva” – Gabriel Kahane’s maybe my favorite orchestral pop singer-songwriter, but trying to put him in that box doesn’t quite do him justice. His arrangements perpetually surprise me but in a way that feels perfect, and his ability to capture the pieces of life we want to look away from or would brush past in concise, carved lyrics that always project a love for the world makes me want to work harder. This closing track from his Magnificent Bird, with Casey Foubert and Joseph Lorge on guitars and Elizabeth Zinman on backing vocals around Kahane, talks about how our rituals have transformed with technology in unsparing, gorgeous detail. “And the photographs of great-grandchildren multiplied, these two ancient lovers walking side by side— his body ravaged, and hers turned to light—He raised his hand to speak at last, and everyone held their breath or gasped as he said, ‘Goodbye, my darling, goodbye.'”
Leyla McCalla, “Memory Song” – I deeply regret not seeing the mixed media performance of Leyla McCalla’s song cycle that accompanies the album when I was at Big Ears, but the record that resulted, Breaking the Thermometer, had my heart almost immediately, Cellist-singer-songwriter McCalla weaves great covers of songwriters like Caetano Veloso and Frantz Casseus with astonishing originals like this one, for this travelogue/reckoning with her family’s history and the wider histories of Haiti and the US. “How much does a memory weigh?”
Beth Orton, “Arms Around a Memory” – A similarly slinky, mysterious groove – in this case from Shazad Ismaily and Tom Skinner – powers this standout from one of my favorite records from a songwriter I’ve been besotted with for over 20 years. A tribute to New York, sometimes obliquely and sometimes in your face, and to sorting through those memories that define us around the edges. “Well, I put my arms around a memory though you always told me not to try. Didn’t we make a beautiful life in your eight-floor walk-up that night?”
SG Goodman, “All My Love is Coming Back to Me” – Grittier but also working with a cyclical, hypnotic groove, this song kept nudging me, nagging at me, in the face of the almost impossible call to choose a single song off Goodman’s punch in the gut collection Teeth Marks. “I’ve seen the light of kingdoms coming, answered the call to rock and roll. Chased down the night that someone’s holding onto, and I kept the fight within my soul.”
Earthgang featuring Ari Lennox, “Run Too” – This standout from the terrific 2022 album Ghetto Gods from Atlanta rap duo Earthgang features a slashing chorus from Ari Lennox and introspective lyrics over a thrumming, insistent beat featuring gauzy synth chords and sparkling piano with plenty of space. “So who can I open up to? Probably this bottle; this sack of weed, it talks to me. We see eye to eye. We knee to knee, praying for some shit, ain’t sure if it exists.”
Terence Etc., “Terence’s — Love” – Terence Nance’s record VORTEX is one of the most mind-expanding pop/R&B records I’ve heard in years. The way he leans into the hairpin turns, the surprising harmony, the doubled sax and keys solo that feels like it’s melting in front of me, and makes it all sing like classic basement jams is a magic trick of the highest order. “Feeding on each other and loving every minute. I’m not grown. Tasted like right at first, but all wrong.”
Sick Thoughts, “Someone I Can Talk To” – New Orleans’ raw garage-punk band Sick Thoughts, for a long time held down by singer and only permanent member Drew Owen, has always been a live act you miss at your own peril if you’re lucky enough they come through your town. But – whether influenced by a more stable lineup or just woodshedding on his own – with Heaven is No Fun, they finally made a great album. This song takes up on some of the questioning/figuring out what keeps us going themes of the last few tracks, but with snarling guitars and a hard-edged bounce. “There are sometimes when I don’t know where I am. And there are somethings that I’ll never, never understand. Oh, no.”
Big Joanie, “What Are You Waiting For” – To my ears, London trio Big Joanie took a big step up on their second record Back Home. That huge, slashing riff and the spiky leads from Stephanie Phillips play perfectly with Estella Adeyeri’s big bass lines and the dry, crisp drumming of Chardine Taylor-Stone. “You couldn’t make it back. You wore the weight that you earned. It’s all yours; she’s not the only one living without a million rituals from a time forgotten.”
Scrunchies, “New What” – With their own sophomore record, Scrunchies also felt to me like they went further toward defining themselves. I love Feral Beach front to back, they were my favorite set at Dirtnap Records’ anniversary and that almost martial drumming and melodic bass groove the song sets up always catches my ear. That moment when Laura Larson’s guitar explodes through those textures is always exciting. “Elevate to get translucent – tape your feelings to the wall. Emerge from below fully formed. Put me away when I destroy because I’m bored. Tear apart is not enough when I want more more more.”
Billy Woods featuring Mike Ladd, “Christine” – Rapper-songwriter Billy Woods’ Aethiopes brought him to another level of recognition, and for good reason. With tracks all produced by his co-writer Preservation and judiciously chosen guests, it evokes a mood of dread and possibility without feeling monochromatic. This track with Mike Ladd, one of my gateway drugs to this sort of underground hip-hop, is a favorite in an album I couldn’t find a bad song on anywhere. “Lulled by streetlamps and the blackness between, my parents’ argument picking up speed. In and out of bad dreams. That’s what they said when they saw him dead in the road. Now I know it was the shadow of them black wings. Unmarked followed us for ten blocks.”
Lucky Daye, “Fever” – I knew Lucky Daye’s songwriting but I missed his debut album. Candydrip caught my ear immediately, one of the best contemporary R&B records I’ve heard in a while, those slashing, static-y cymbals and the echoing backing vocals on the track enhance the sweaty, breathless quality of the love-as-disease metaphor he slinks through. “All night chase you, no lime; another round to help me pass the time. Maybe this mary will help get it out my mind. Feels so right, yeah, ooh, and these pills don’t cut the passion.”
Brian Damage, “You’ve Got Friends” – I loved Brian Baker’s earlier band Brat Curse but his project/band (sometimes featuring five or six people live but mostly recorded entirely by Baker with some judicious guests) Brian Damage encompasses more influences, more of the world, and makes more space for his idiosyncratic look at the world; one of my favorite Columbus bands in a while. Tis lead-off track to their delightful Shit For Brains is co-written by Alissa Paynick and plays with ’90s lo-fi textures – starting with the modem sound – and a disaffected vocal couching a phenomenal, mean hook. “I live my life online. I don’t have one any other time.”
Sweet Knives, “Oh Danny” – A more direct but just as specific and powerful look at infatuation by one of my favorite songwriters of the last 20+ years, Memphis’ Alicja Trout, in what’s grown into her most flexible band, Sweet Knives. This song has a riff worthy of every guitarist I’ve loved since Johnny Thunders and a hook as good as the Shangri-Las, it’s a pop masterpiece from someone who writes more of them than anybody and a keystone of a record Spritzeria which Anne and I saw them do most of live that confirms the songs are as good as they’ve ever done. “Oh, Danny, did you come back for more? I’m hearing growling, squealing, scratching down on the cellar door. Oh, Danny, don’t you know I believe you – in what you say and what you do. Oh, Danny, don’t you know I could never be through with you.”
Aoife O’Donovan, “Age of Apathy” – The first record I fully loved this year, O’Donovan’s collaboration with producer Joe Henry had a slower build for me than her earlier solo records. I love it, but I had to grapple with it a little more – this title track, though, caught me immediately with the sense of drama and atmospherics sharpened to a fine point and one of my favorite combinations of lyric and melody she’s written, leading up to a beautiful Joni Mitchell quote/nod that avoids the way that kind of trope usually feels tacked on. “Under the shade of a quaking aspen tree; we came for New England’s party, but the colors haven’t started, so it’s just you and me.”
Keb’ Mo’, “Good to Be (Home Again)” – Keb’ Mo’ was one of a million artists I got turned onto by our NPR station WCBE when I was in high school and saw him not long after at the Southern Theater. I haven’t kept up on everything he’s done since, but his blend of smooth Americana and country blues still has a place in my heart, and once in a while, he still bowls me over. This title track off his 2022 record, co-written with Beastie Boys collaborator and fellow LA native Money Mark, and co-produced with Vince Gill, is probably my favorite example of that formula. The honeyed melody feels like the warmth of old streets you had some issues with but comes back in the fondness of your memory and the joy of having made it, of being able to tell the tale. “It’s good to be here. It’s good to be anywhere. Good to be back, good to be home again.”
John Moreland, “Neon Middle June” – I’ve been a fan for a while, but John Moreland’s Birds in the Ceiling stunned me, the kind of not-quite-departure that reminded me a little of Fred Eaglesmith’s Dusty. When I was lucky enough to see him at Skully’s, these songs translated just as well solo with an acoustic guitar, keeping their intensity and atmosphere, but the perfect production and subtle arrangements – the electronics on this slow creep of a relationship on the brink – co-produced with Matt Pence from Centro-Matic who also plays drums and accompanied by the great Bonnie Whitmore and John Calvin Abney on everything else really make this record indelible. “When you were a child, your faith was automatic; asleep in steady traffic, navigating western static. And what if who I am is who I used to be? Darling, you know that’s the thought that paralyzes me.”
Anaïs Mitchell, “On Your Way (Felix Song)” – Probably the new song I played the most this year and it was always there for me. Seeing her do it live with Anne, Heather, and Adam at Brooklyn Made was stunning – it had been six or seven years since I’d seen Mitchell live – but I also have specific memories of this in my headphones, walking out of the subway into the streets she’s talking about in New York, or an early morning stroll through the Pushkin Gardens in Mexico City, or downtown Columbus looking for some coffee and a hangover-killing lunch. Thinking about the people I miss in the same way she pays tribute to her old friend, and thinking about how perfectly crafted this easy-rolling, questioning shuffle is; and the whole self-titled record is packed with songs this good. “I remember when you were a seeker staring into a stereo speaker. Kick drum and someone singing made you one with everything. I remember when the tape was rolling, you were going where the take was going. No regrets and no mistakes.”
Amanda Shires, “Fault Lines” – Amanda Shires’ songs and records get better and better. I remember seeing her with Anne at Rumba supporting My Piece of Land and feeling like she’d broken through. But even being a fan didn’t prepare me for the textures and power on Take It Like a Man, produced by Lawrence Rothman. Another record I had an extremely hard time finding a song off of, but this solo written song, with its dramatic strings lighting up the room that recall Orbison but also Charles Stepney and crushing guitar solo, I probably played three times before I moved onto the next song. “I cried, I asked, and I bawled, curled up on the floor with it all: all the time, the want, the overwhelming volume of breathing.”
Here It Is Band featuring Luciana Souza, “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” – This year brought with it a surfeit of strong, consistent tribute records , including Here It Is, the Blue Note Records tribute to singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. A core group of jazz musicians, including Bill Frisell, Immanuel Wilkins, Larry Goldings, Scott Colley, and Nate Smith, provide intimate, sympathetic backings that use all of their skills, no one feels like they’re slumming on material that’s not interesting, backing a series of expertly chosen vocalists. My first exposure to Luciana Souza was on her record of musical settings of one of Cohen’s influences, Neruda, and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. Her reading on this, one of my favorite Cohen songs and a guidepost for finding equanimity and grace in art (even if we fall short of it in life), might be the new standard I hold all others to. “I’m not looking for another as I wander in my time. Walk me to the corner now, our steps will always rhyme. You know my love goes with you, as your love stays with me. It’s just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea.”
The Delines, “Little Earl” – This torchy collaboration between Willy Vlautin and Amy Boone just gets better and deeper. Hard-luck narratives are rarely as sharply carved, and the arrangements have touches of lounge jazz but understand the sense of dread in those little rooms that cure the walls like generations of cigarette smoke and spilled tequila in the low-pile carpet. The strings and Hi Records-y horns come in at exactly the right moment around Cory Gray’s organ, and those little backing vocals stabs add up to a song that makes me want to write another short story, want to try harder. “Little Earl’s brother is bleeding in the backseat. It’s been twenty miles, and he can’t stop crying. Passing the houses on stilts on Holly Beach; the A/C don’t work, and Earl’s sick in the Gulf Coast heat.”
Ashley McBryde, “Straight Tequila Night” – The Dan Auerbach-produced John Anderson tribute was a chance to get reacquainted with a whole catalog of songs I grew up loving. This one probably most of all, I adored the melody as a kid before I had any idea about the meat of the song, that sense of trying to keep it together and knowing, like clockwork, it’s going to explode in messy ways and hoping the people nearby will tolerate you even if they don’t put you back together because they’re hoping you’ll be better next time all told from the remove of the bartender. And Ashley McBryde, one of my favorite contemporary country singer-songwriters knocks it out of the park. “If you really want to know, she comes here a lot. She loves to hear the music and dance. K-13 is her favorite song. If you play it, you might have a chance.”
Rose Gold, “Addicted” – A song without the remove of the last couple, written from the perspective of someone in the middle of that struggle with themselves. Rose Gold’s vocal, tightly coiled but glowing red, and the big drums around a keyboard line and cinematic synth strings, add up to a new favorite use of the perennial love-as-addiction metaphor. “I know I said I didn’t need your help but I do. Why am I not fucking perfect? Why can’t I kick this shit?”
Craig Finn, “Messing With the Settings” – Legacy of Rentals didn’t move me as much as the last few Craig Finn records but this song was a sledgehammer in the gut, a flawless example of what he does better than anyone working. The narrative gives largely equal weight and care to both the characters, and it rings true for any of us who’ve had those immediately intense friendships in one bar or another, with a well-calibrated, sweeping arrangement driven by keys and strings around spoken verses and sung choruses. “She had a dwindling grace and a faith in the industry that never really made sense to me.”
Cardiac Poet featuring Baba zora, Masufuria, Nate Speaks, Mbokani – I don’t speak any of the Kenyan languages, so I can’t comment on the narrative from this riveting track from spoken word artist turned rapper Cardiac Poet, with collaborators, but it also uses prominent strings and keys, and it feels like it has the same urgency; like it’s coming from the same place as the last few songs.
Horsegirl, “Anti-glory” – One of my favorite new bands, pal Steve Kirsch turned me onto this Chicago trio, and I was lucky enough to see them on their first headlining tour this year. The clatter and stretched-out guitar remind me of a less noisy mid-period Sonic Youth, and it’s been a joy watching them grow into their power (everyone I know who saw them open for Yo La Tengo this Hanukkah raved about what a different band they seemed from earlier in the year), so the thought that their terrific debut record Versions of Modern Performance is a harbinger of even better things is very exciting. “Turning away, can’t make it out, out loud. Now, feel a fever flow through the town.”
The Weeknd, “Out of Time” – The Weeknd’s newer one, Dawn FM, better synthesizes his earlier portraits of painful, cracked interiority with his pop sensibility than his earlier records, and this track with its swooping synthesized woodwinds and hand claps, is existential loneliness in the heart of couples skate perfection. “Say ‘I love you, girl’, but I’m out of time. Say, ‘I’m there for you,’ but I’m out of time.”
Charli XCX, “Every Rule” – I knew Charli XCX for the big dancefloor smashes but on Crash I was increasingly drawn to the ballads, especially this conflicted, paranoid spray of colors and lust, that keyboard solo toward the end of the song is a stiletto stab in the solar plexus. “Met up late night by the Bowery and in the morning we got coffee. Acted like strangers and told no friends, it wasn’t easy to pretend.”
Punch Brothers, “The Last Thing on my Mind” – This highlight from the Punch Brothers’ Tony Rice re-imagining, Hell on Church Street, felt like it went with the previous couple of songs because it takes the warmth of the Tom Paxton original and squeezes it like trying to turn coal into a diamond, like trying to cram the intensity of the feelings of regret into the pit of your stomach. Hearing this band of virtuosos play with this much clenched restraint is incredibly moving to me. “Are you going away with no word of farewell? Will there be not a trace left behind? Well, I could have loved you better; I didn’t mean to be unkind. You know that was the last thing on my mind.”
George Strait, “Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me” – Another of those hyperfocused, high quality tribute records with a greatly deserving focus was Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver. As expected, it feels like every great who had a few years with a Texas address shows up on this, digging into one of the greatest catalogs from a state that’s given us so many indisputable great songwriters. George Strait came up in the lone star state a few years after Shaver broke through and he brings the appropriate gravitas and twinkle in his eye that made him probably the pre-eminent country start of my lifetime, laying way back on this quintessential neo-honky tonk tune and giving it possibly its definitive reading. “Three fingers whiskey pleasures the drinkers; moving does more than the same thing for me. Willy, he tells me that doers and thinkers say moving’s the closest thing to being free.”
Sarah Borges, “Lucky Day” – Continuing her fruitful collaboration with producer Eric Ambel, Borges’ Together Alone is another series of rock-solid songs that draw on every aspect of the American roots tradition with hooks I can’t get out of my head, and killer playing (in this case featuring Borges’ partner and former Bottle Rockets’ bassist Keith Voegele, John Perrin on drums, and Ambel on lead guitar around her rhythm guitar). The soaring quality of this one reminds me of the first song of hers I gravitated toward, “The Day We Met,” without feeling like a retread. “I get better at playing the numbers: take my chances and wait. I’ve been waiting forever.”
Combo Chimbita, “La Perla” – This New York band helped bring Colombian Chimbita music to prominence for white American music fans like me, while working with other elements of the music they’re around and dealing with the contemporary world through the lens of the music they love. Their record this year IRE is their most diverse, focused, and potent, big grooves fused to a righteous anger around Carolina Oliveros’ flamethrower vocals.
Ice Spice, “Munch (Feelin’ U)” – One of my favorite new rappers and a pulsing, hard-edged example of the new wave of drill. This was easily my favorite of the all-great singles Ice Spice put out this year. “Saying you love me but what do you mean? Pretty as fuck and he like that I’m mean.”
Black Thought and Danger Mouse featuring Michael Kiwanuka, “Aquamarine” – I fell for the Roots early, high school I think, and Black Thought finally has a solo record as good as his best work with the home team. The dusty, left-turn-riddled beats from Danger Mouse get a perfect showcase between Black Thought’s and Kiwanuka’s vocals. “Ever patiently waiting with the demons we deserve. Better be willing to pay with every dream that you deferred.”
Garbage Greek, “Here We Go” – Garbage Greek grew into one of my favorite Columbus bands over the last couple of years and they solidified that standing with their best album Quality Garbage, with lead vocalist and guitarist Lee Mason leading the charge, the melodic bass lines and harmonies of Patrick Koch, Jason Winner’s driving but also nuanced drumming and the secret sauce of Adam Scoppa’s additional percussion and backing vocals, it’s a nigh perfect rock band, in the ’60s mode but not beholden to it. “Am I right? Is this the one?”
Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, “Talkin’ To Myself” – One of my favorite singers added some additional textures to their work and made their best record, Nightroamer, with the production assistance of Pete Anderson. This organ-laced stomper, tinged with acid guitar, is a favorite example that killed me live before the album came out and was an instant favorite when I finally got the record. “Lookin’ at cats on the corner. Pills in the kitchen for my cough. Bad shit going down on the border. Bad brain don’t ever turn off.”
Wesley Bright, “Oh, Think About It” – Cleveland’s finest soul singer, Wesley Bright, continues to broaden his palette without leaving everything that made us love him behind, bringing the horns and organ back on this killer track with a sprightly northern soul beat and doubled backing vocals that send this piece of longing into the stars. “Look in the mirror, you’ll see things much clearer. Then you’ll believe and see why she wanted you to leave.”
Call Me Rita, “Measure Twice, Cut Once” – Another of my favorite Columbus bands, Call Me Rita takes poet-visual artist Vanessa Jean Speckman and teams her with a band of heavy hitters, including her partner Micah Schnabel from Two Cow Garage on guitar and backing vocals, Jay Gasper (best known for his work with Lydia Loveless) on guitar and keys, Todd May (who Anne has called the best songwriter in Columbus and has exquisite taste in other songwriters he accompanies) on bass and backing vocals, and Jason Winner who I mentioned earlier with Garbage Greek on drums. This is a perfect, furious response to the world on fire that I went back to over and over again. “The creditors keep calling me. How much more can I bleed?”
The Sparklers, “Late Great Saturday Night” – One of my favorite newer bands in the vein of the Replacements. The Sparklers hit my radar when pal Steve Kirsch joined them on drums, leading up to 2022’s sparkling Miss Philadelphia record and it’s jam packed with witty lyrics, sharp playing, and hooks on top of hooks. “What blasphemies come alive? Still learning the language of loss.”
Hurray for the Riff Raff, “PIERCED ARROWS” – My love of Hurray for the Riff Raff has always been about Alynda Segarra’s songs and their Life on Earth is full of excellent examples. The electronic throb and echoing drums of this song create the perfect atmosphere for a vocal that goes from the edge of broken to profound declamations from the rooftops. “This was the place that fell apart; you were the one to break it. I don’t believe in anything. This whole fucking world is changing.”
Swamp Dogg, “I Need a Job” – Jerry Williams has been making raw, perfect records in his Swamp Dogg persona since 1970 and the renaissance of recent years has been an amazing pleasure to witness. His new one, I Need a Job… So I can Buy More Autotune finds him in fine witty, acerbic form, riding a classic, horn-and-harmonica laden groove. “Food is so high, it would be cheaper if we ate the morning.”
Pillbox Patti, “Good People” – Songwriter Nicolette Hayford’s Pillbox Patti alter-ego/debut album is a collection of unflinching portraits of people she has affection for without letting them off the hook. This song pairs a sinister groove with an entrancing, elevated conversational vocal. “They say the good die young; well, I don’t believe it. ‘Cause look at us: a little fucked up, but we’re still breathing.”
Lyle Lovett, “The Mocking Ones” – This original on Lyle Lovett’s stunning 12th of June finds him in the mode of many of his best songs, picking up a conversation seemingly in the middle and finding the same affection and gratitude for the people in his life and his songs that characterized mentors of his like Guy Clark and Nanci Griffith. “I said before, and now the long time’s come, to wait, forget, and still remember some. To hold our heads above the laughing tongues falling from the faces of the mocking ones.”
Joan Shelley, “Bolt” – Louisville singer-songwriter Joan Shelley put out one of her best records – and that’s a high bar – with this year’s The Spur. Full of songs that gave me something to chew on, with melodies and images I couldn’t shake. This one breaks my heart every time, an example of having the metaphor right in the title and still being surprising. “Haven’t you grown enough? Aren’t you old enough? Can’t you carry more than your heavy self? There’s no hiding, no lies, having two eyes to watch you all the time; see right through you.”
Alabaster dePlume, “Fucking Let Them” – Spoken word artist and saxophonest Alabaster dePlume found the perfect backing band in Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die (Branch with Chad Taylor, Jason Ajemian, and Lester St Louis) and they provide a ferocious accompaniment throughout Gold – Go Forward in the Courage of Your Love. “I am brazen like a baby. Like the stupid sun. And I go forward in the courage of your love.”
Cory Henry, “Something New” – I was lucky enough to see Henry and his Funk Apostles this summer touring his newest, extremely strong collection, Operation Funk. This is another dancefloor smash with a gorgeous, soaring vocal and his majestic keyboards. “‘We may not be young anymore, but the night is,’ this is what she said when she looked in my eyes. ‘Follow me, take my hand, let’s go up to a higher ground.'”
Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway, “Nashville Mess Around” – Another instant classic dance song of a different stripe by another virtuoso who’s breaking out with better and better songwriting on every outing. Guitarist and songwriter Molly Tuttle killed me on her new one, Crooked Tree, featuring musical snapshots of different points in her life and career. The tune and interlaced guitar, fiddle, and banjo here are killer but I also live the sardonic smile she paints the lyrics with. “So all you pals and pilgrims and in-from-out-of-towners, we had a boom, now there’s no room, so don’t you hang around here. You’re out of luck, so don’t pick up when Nashville comes a-calling. You’d best go back to Fond du Lac and quit your honky tonking.”
SYD featuring Smino, “Right Track” – I didn’t love Syd’s Broken Hearts Club quite as much as I wanted to but there were a handful of undeniable songs that give me hope the rest of it will grow on me. A marvelous, seductive vocal and a finger snapping backing track with a charming feature verse from Smino. “Seems like we’re on the right track; keep it up, you keep me coming right back. You know I’m trying to wife that.”
Primer, “Feel The Way I Do” – Alyssa Midcalf’s Primer project released Incubator, a record of electronic pop using a lot of ’80s textures that normally turn me off but she doesn’t use them in a too-precious throwback way, she roughs them up and brings in other elements. I found the songs entrancing and the vocal delivery mesmerizing. The expansion toward the end of the song feels like earned catharsis, like the first sunny day after an endless gray week. “I’ve been living inside me my whole life. I can’t seem to fight it, I don’t know why. I tremble as it grows.”
Illogic, “Play to Win” – Illogic was the first rapper in Columbus I loved, that felt like he was part of a scene I knew and understood. I still pull out Celestial Clockwork regularly. His last couple of records find him going deeper into making his own beats and The Transition is an excellent, mature record where the tracks live up to the excellent producers he was working with when I first heard him and the songs gel, the record he only could have made with his wisdom and experience. I keep going back to it and finding something – or some things – new. “He wasn’t sorry for the moves made, just try’n’a get home, sliding shoots and climbing ladders was the strategy.”
Becca Stevens and Attacca Quartet, “45 Bucks” – Jazz singer and composer Becca Stevens has been expanding her sonic universe on the last few records, with her expansive breakthrough Wonderbloom, last year’s collaboration with the Secret Trio, and this year’s fantastic work with the Attacca Quartet who Anne and I were lucky enough to see at Big Ears this year. This revisiting of an older song of Stevens is a perfect example of their powers combining. The strings chasing and jousting her defiant vocals in a lyric that uses the same lines over and over, juxtaposing in a way that evokes a pantoum. “It must be hard for you to get up in the morning.”
Dedicated Men of Zion, “Rock My Soul” – I’ve always been a sucker for deep gospel, and North Carolina quartet Dedicated Men of Zion produced an example that blows me away with The Devil Don’t Like It. Adding to the power of those voices in concert is a band filled with Memphis all-stars including Al Gamble on organ, Will Sexton and Matt Ross-Spang on guitars, and a swinging, crunching rhythm section of Mark Edgar Stuart and George Sluppick. “If I get to Heaven, I’m gonna swing and shout. There’s gonna be nobody up there who’s going to turn me out.”
Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters, “Eurydice” – Asheville roots rock band Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters released their best album with this year’s sprawling The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and this ballad, brimming with slow-boil intensity, is a prime example of what they do so well – the steel guitar and accordion or harmonium running through the track like a river without undercutting the vocal. “Is that darkness in your dreams? My darling, I believe, it’s not loneliness you fear. It’s your own heart that keeps you here.”
Spiritualized, “Let It Bleed (For Iggy)” – Any new Spiritualized record is cause for rejoicing in my corner of the world. This song rising from a slow-burn ballad into a majestic explosion is a prime example of what Jason Pierce and his shifting collection of musicians do better than anyone in my lifetime. “I labored over this life for too long: there’s nothing to behold. I wanted it to be better for you. A minute down the road, I wanted it to go straight to your heart and say, ‘Darling, I was wrong.'”
Golomb, “Western Threshold” – I’ve watched Xenia Bleveans Holm (vocals and bass) and Hawken Holm (drums) grow up. Their parents, Dave and Melanie, are great friends and, between them, have given me some of my favorite musical experiences in this town, in bands like Ugly Stick, The Townsmen, Bigfoot, and Total Foxx. I was a big fan of Xenia’s earlier band, Cherry Chrome, but I adore this new power trio featuring Mickey Shuman (vocals and guitar). Their fantastic eponymous debut album reminds me of everything I loved about ’90s indie rock but with a fresh, contemporary spin, buried hooks I want to dig and uncover. “Hey, baby, it’s somewhere between late morning and early night. I’m in the western threshold, not another soul in sight. And I write to you.”
Rose Mercie, “Un château” – Paris-based band Rose Mercie’s record Kieres Agua got its hooks in me and hasn’t let go. This song is a nighttime rainstorm in the middle of a city, neon-splashed puddles and shadows like a Will Eisner comic strip in that intoxicating keyboard part and those guitar stabs.
Jenny Hval, “Cemetery of Splendour” – I’ve been a big fan of Jenny Hval for many years, anyone who’s ever read one of these lists has probably seen her name. Her last records have been growing in accessibility and ease without sacrificing any of the mystery, the sharp edges that drew me to her work in the first place. This almost torturously slow ballad with its suspended keyboard chords and rotating vocal, drums as subtle as a heartbeat before building to a complicated climax, is a key example of what I love so much about her work. “Now you go to the afterlife; you’ve heard good things about it but the embers are cooling and the spirits are just names plus one.”
Robert Glasper featuring Q-Tip and Esperanza Spalding, “Why We Speak” – I’ve liked all of keyboardist Robert Glasper’s Black Radio records, drawing the various streams of contemporary black music together and staking out a claim for the jazz he came up playing and still plays well. This song sets up a sinuous, sensual groove around Spalding and Q-Tip’s vocals in English, French and Spanish for something that would sound good in any lounge at 2 am. “To remember after all their sage disasters are done, se souvenir.”
Leikeli47, “LL Cool J” – Someone else I was slow to, but Leikeli47’s third record Shape Up got me immediately, especially this seductive, sparse single. “Boy, you got the type of shine you only find in a mine – I dug deep and worked hard just to make you mine.”
Bad Bunny, “Yo No Soy Celoso” – I liked the earlier Bad Bunny records but Un Verano Sin Ti hit me at exactly the right time, and its blend of other music in with the reggaeton and Latin trap that made his name feels perfectly calibrated. The hard acoustic guitar strum underpinning this track and the whistling give a lightness to it that rubs up against his weathered vocal in just the right way.
Rosalía, “MOTOMAMI” – I checked out Rosalía when I mentioned the singer-songwriter Roasli to my pal Mary at work and she thought I had the name wrong. So I was already primed for her best, most sprawling record to come out and it’s delightfully weird and diverse. I need more unabashed pop records taking these kinds of big swings in my life.
Nikki Lane, “Try Harder” – I liked Nikki Lane from her first record on – and still rave about seeing her at Twangfest six or seven years ago – but her collaboration with producer Josh Homme, Denim and Diamonds, makes the songs snap into sharper relief with the rhythm section amped up just slightly and her vocal nudged to the front of the mix. “One of these days you’re gonna wake up and find yourself wondering if you done right or should’ve done something else. It gets hard to believe you’re gonna find a way, but that’s the price you pay.”
Ceclie McLorin Salvant, “Moon Song” – Cecile McLorin Salvant has long been at the front of the pack of current jazz singers, with a keen interpretive gift. The last few records, she’s proving she’s also one of our best songwriters, and Ghost Song is another leap in that direction, with stunning accompaniment by Aaron Diehl on piano. “Let me write you a song and long to belong to you; write you a song from a distance. Let me love you like I love the moon.”
Ralph White, “Something About Dreaming” – Bad Livers helped redefine what I thought about roots music, but I hadn’t kept up with Ralph White’s music since leaving the band. This title track from one of the two terrific albums old friend Jerry David DeCicca produced on White this year holds that voice and banjo playing up to the light and makes every crack, every bit of weathering – every surprising stretch of a vowel – not only apparent but beautiful. “Things ain’t never gonna be the same and I just listen to the wind, the stars, and the rain. I listen to falling rain.”
Sharon Van Etten, “Home to Me” – Sharon Van Etten’s records keep getting richer, a reminder of how much life has to give you at every turn as long as you’re willing to put in the attention and you have the craft to express it. The rapturous slow crawl of this song and the intensity of its act of love makes it a standout for me on the great We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong. “I take my time so you can say to me, ‘What makes it right is an unknown thing.'”
Earl Vallie, “A Beautiful Creature” – Earl Vallie was a good friend of mine back when he lived in Columbus. Then, I knew him mostly as a visual/installation artist. So it’s a beautiful thing to hear my old pal’s voice on this fully formed, stirring music. His record Ghost Approaches merges finely-observed workaday detail with high drama, given exquisite production from Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier who also plays drums with Joel T. Crocco rounding out the rhythm section. “Spending all my gold just painting palm trees red, then I spread my wings again. Grabbing what I seek to find from massive swarms of things I’ve left behind.”
Maisie Kappler, “Fit for a Queen” – A Columbus singer-songwriter I just stumbled onto this year, Kappler’s mix of the dramatic and the ephemeral is a rare gift, paired with cut-crystal melodies that keep me coming back. This memory of the artist’s grandmother struck me as soon as I heard it and I’m still drawn back, finding new things that resonate with my own memories of the grandmother I miss very much and things so specific to her experience I’m glad to be given that window into their relationship. “When I was younger, I asked my grandmother how she held onto her youth. She stared at her whiskey, then she answered ‘Vanity.’ Surely it must have been true.”
BAYLI, “Think of Drugs” – Brooklyn R&B singer BAYLI was one of my favorite discoveries this year, this glittering cri de coeur uses the creaminess of the production and the silky, stretching melody to enhance the pain of longing in the lyrics in a way I’m always a sucker for. “Breathe before I delete your number from my phone. Do you ever think of me like you think of drugs? Like you think when you think of drugs?”
Weyes Blood, “The Worst Is Done” – Weyes Blood has been broadening their approach and writing more accessible melodies for the last few years – I remember seeing a great show with David Banbury at Cafe Bourbon Street a few years ago that felt like a breakthrough – and the records keep getting stronger and more expansive, more about reckoning with the world. “Got kinda old; it happened to me quickly. Burned down the house waiting for someone to save me.”
Vieux Farka Touré and Khruangbin, “Savanne” – Farka Touré teamed up with rising instrumental lounge-rock band Khurangbin for a kaleidoscopic tribute to his father Ali, one of the true giants of Malian music that keeps everything good about his father’s work, every memorable part, without shackling it to an era or a style.
Willie Nelson, “Tower of Song” – Willie Nelson’s grappled with the Leonard Cohen songbook a few times over the years but there’s something beautiful about him taking on this mythopoetic look back now with sparse accompaniment and longtime foil Mickey Raphael’s harmonica right up front next to him. As I did with the monthly playlists, I tried to end this with a prayer. Thank you for listening or reading. “All the bridges are burning that we might have crossed, but I feel so close to everything that we lost. We’ll never have to lose it again.”

Tags Alabaster DePlume, Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters, Amanda Shires, Anais Mitchell, Anteloper, Aoife O'Donovan, Ari Lennox, ashley mcbryde, Attacca Quartet, Baba zora, Bad Bunny, BAYLI, Becca Stevens, best of, Best Of 2022, Beth Orton, Big Joanie, Billy Joe Shaver, Billy Woods, Black Thought, Brian Damage, Call Me Rita, Cardiac Poet, Catherine Russell, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Charli XCX, Combo Chimbita, cory henry, Craig Finn, Danger Mouse, Dedicated Men of Zion, Earl Vallie, Earthgang, Eli Paperboy Reed, Eric Ambel, Esperanza Spalding, Florence and the Machine, Gabriel Kahane, Garbage Greek, George Strait, Golomb, Here It Is, Horsegirl, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Ice Spice, Illogic, jaimie branch, Jason Nazary, Jeff Parker, Jenny Hval, Joan Shelley, John Anderson, John Moreland, Keb' Mo, Khruangbin, Lady Wray, Leikeli47, Leonard Cohen, Leyla McCalla, Luciana Souza, Lucky Daye, Lyle Lovett, Maisie Kappler, Masufuria, Maya de Vitry, Mbokani, Michael Kiwanuka, Mike Ladd, Molly Tuttle, music, Nate Speaks, Nikki Lane, Pillbox Patti, Playlist, Primer, Punch Brothers, Q-Tip, Ralph White, recorded music, Robert Glasper, Rosalia, Rose Gold, Rose Mercie, Sarah Borges, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, Say She She, Scrunchies, SG Goodman, Sharon Van Etten, Sick Thoughts, Soul Glo, Spiritualized, Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra, Swamp Dogg, Sweet Knives, Syd, Terence Etc, The Delines, The Sparklers, The Weeknd, Tony Rice, Vieux Farka, Vieux Farka Toure, Wesley Bright, Weyes Blood, Willie Nelson

Best Of record reviews

Best of 2022 Records

As with the past few years, the actual writing about these pieces will come with the playlist posts, but I like the idea of keeping the tradition of having a list of my favorite records of the year in one place. And good lord, there was a lot to love this year.

New Albums:

Florence and the Machine, Dance Fever
Anteloper, Pink Dolphins
Anaïs Mitchell, Anaïs Mitchell
Big Joanie, Back Home
Amanda Shires, Take It Like a Man
Gabriel Kahane, Magnificent Bird
Moor Mother, Jazz Codes
Brian Harnetty, Words and Silence
Loraine James, Building Something Beautiful For Me
Mary Halvorson, Amaryllis
Leyla McCalla, Breaking the Thermometer
Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Down Every Road
Lady Wray, Piece of Me
Terri Lynn Carrington, New Standards Vol. 1
Sick Thoughts, Heaven is No Fun
Kalia Vandever, Regrowth
SG Goodman, Teeth Marks
Tarbaby featuring Oliver Lake, Dance of the Evil Toys
Mali Obomsawin, Sweet Tooth
Terence Etc., VORTEX

Archival/Reissue/Compilations:

Various Artists, Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen
Sonic Youth, In/Out/In
Various Artists, Disco Reggae Rockers
Mal Waldron, Searching in Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert
Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Charles Mingus, The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott’s
Various Artists, Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver
Cecil Taylor, The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Live at the Fillmore, 1997
The Lilybandits, Shifty’s Tavern
Various Artists, Life Between Islands
Various Artists, Sharayet El Disco
Ray Pérez y Perucho Torcat, They Do It
Elvin Jones, Revival: Live at Pookie’s Pub
Charles Stepney, Step on Step
Brotzmann/Graves/Parker, Historic Music Past Tense Future
Various Artists, Something Borrowed, Something New: A Tribute to John Anderson

Playlist record reviews

Playlist – July 2022

Probably the latest I’ve ever been on one of these, due to two extensive projects in August, which should both be hitting the same week (one’s been scheduled, one I need to take some photos/get some art for). September’s mostly put together, just needs to be arranged and written about. I love you all; thank you for reading or listening.

https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/dbe2d48e-4fe1-413c-8794-935eba8e01a9

Moor Mother featuring Aquiles Navarro and Alya Al Sultani, “Meditation Rag” – Jazz has always been an integral part of Moor Mother’s sound world and that influence comes to the fore in her breathtaking new record Jazz Codes. A tribute to influences and ancestors, she and her collaborators approach this history with the warmth, generosity of spirit, and intensity that stamps all of her work. Maybe my favorite album of hers yet. This track features trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, whose duet record with Tcheser Holmes is still in nigh-constant rotation for me, bringing his creamy, smoky tone and sense of melodic surprise, and British-Iraqi soprano Alya Al Sultani whose crystalline voice and sense of drama shines a different light through the layered beat and restrained Moor Mother vocal. “Maple Leaf Rag, Original Rag, Mississippi Rag, too much Jelly Roll. Too much Memphis blues. Bolden, Armstrong, cakewalk, Havana conga, hot jazz, Betsy and Duke. Dust jazz, musty Lester new ark, screams of justice.”
Earl Vallie, “Prom” – I knew Earl Vallie what feels like a lifetime ago, as a bartender at my local scene hub, Café Bourbon Street, as a wildly inventive visual artist, and as one of my favorite conversation partners. Since moving to the west coast, he’s made a series of beautiful, artfully askew singer-songwriter records under this name, and this new one, Ghost Approaches, made in collaboration with drummer-producer Greg Saunier from Deerhoof and bassist Joel Crocco, feels like a breakthrough. This track, rich with drama and texture, pairs Vallie’s rippling Roy Orbison vocal and that throbbing rhythm section with Heidi Alexander’s lilting backing vocals and Josh Theroux’s stinging electric guitar for a cracked look at an idealized past that never quite was, embroidered with vintage hipster slang.
John Scofield, “You Win Again” – From the first time I heard John Scofield in high school – on our NPR affiliate WCBE’s locally programmed music shows, I believe the one hosted by Maggie Brennan – his sound resonated with me. And seeing him live, from that first time at one of the Bump release shows with longtime pal Mike Gamble, through many other visits, that impression’s never changed. He’s taken a couple turns I wasn’t as interested in, but his ability to bring in and synthesize everything he loves without his playing feeling overstuffed or rococo, filtering everything through his love of the blues, his clarity, and his flow of ideas, continues to astound and delight me. For such a long and varied career, this eponymous record on ECM is his first solo album, and this delighted investigation of one of the greatest songs of the 20th century, Hank Williams’ “You Win Again,” sums up everything I love about Scofield as an interpreter. The bluesy slurs and unhurried nature, the deep understanding of the lyrics, and the refusal to use the song as a showcase for the technique are all wonders to behold.
Charles Ruggiero, “Altered States” – Drummer-bandleader Ruggiero’s seventh album, Roo Gee Air Oh!!! Is his first album of strictly his own compositions, and it’s a clear sign he should be writing more; each one of these tunes is catchy and enticing, with real meat for the players and listeners to sink our teeth into. Ruggiero’s drumming is perfect on tracks like this, laying back and hitting hard when the moment demands. Bassist Ugonna Okegwo’s warmth and depth are a highlight, exemplified by his melodic solo around five minutes into this tune. I didn’t know Jeremy Manasia’s piano playing very well, but it’s like slipping into a bubble bath here. And Stacy Dillard’s tenor feels custom-made for these songs, melting right into this one and leading us on a journey.
Bad Bunny featuring Tony Dize, “La Corriente” – My pal and former coworker Mary McCarroll turned me onto the new Bad Bunny record, Un Verano Sin Ti, and this quickly became one of my favorite songs on a record full of songs I love. The high moan of the synths and thudding bass around flattened drums adds up to a record I can’t get enough of.
El Alfa, “Chu Chu Pamela” – Dominican rapper El Alfa (Emanuel Herrera Batista), the reigning king of dembow, built an enduring and immediate dancefloor smash with “Chu Chu Pamela.” The undulating rhythm buffets and raises his snapping vocal, with interesting little touches as accents.
David Nance, “Amethyst” – Coming out of a more standard rock and roll background but featuring a similarly twisting, slinky rhythm, Nebraska’s David Nance’s 20-minute epic closer to his Pulverized and Slightly Peaced, featuring Nance playing all the instruments, is everything I want and too seldom get out of this kind of guitar jamming. Like my favorite Magnolia Electric Company or Oneida excursions, this jets through space but never feels formless, every digression leads to something else, and every shift has a sense of dramatic importance. This made me even more excited to see him with Anne at Gonerfest.
Vladislav Delay, “Isosusi” – Sasu Rupatti’s music has been a key part of my understanding of the world for so long that I’m not sure I can put my finger down on what I heard first, but I think it was his work under the Vladislav Delay name. The newest album under that guise, Isoviha, is a bursting picture of the overheated world we’re all facing. Taking the strains of techno, improvisation, and 20th-century composition, especially musique concrete, Delay places them together but leaves the seams, like a Julian Schnabel broken-plate portrait. With synthesized textures instead of Nance’s guitars, he paints a similar quest for a world that might never be.
Wormrot, “Seizures” – This Wormrot track, a standout from the Singaporean grindcore band’s fourth record Hiss, to my ears, plays with similarly abrasive and similarly searching textures as the Nance but makes them the fuel in the tank for a furious, raging vocal, vintage blast beat drums and wraps it all in a concise under-three-minute package.
Water Damage, “Reel 2” – This expansive track rides a taut, crisp groove featuring three drummers – Swans’ depth charge Thor Harris, visual artist Greg Piwonka, and Mike Kanin (Magic People, Expensive Shit) – two bassists – Marriage’s Jeff Piwonka and USA/Mexico’s Nate Cross – Spray Paint and Tuxedo Killer’s George Dishner on oily, grinding synth, and Travis Austin on bowed guitar. It kicks up the right amount of noise in the right proportions.
Winged Wheel, “Passive Jag” – We come into clearer but still complicated light with this track from a Detroit supergroup full of bands/artists I’ve loved for a long time, including recent Columbus ex-pat Mathew Rolin, Expensive Shit’s Cory Plump, Matchess’ Whitney Johnson, and Tyvek’s Fred Thomas (who Anne and I were just talking about recently in Detroit and are very much looking forward to finally seeing again at Gonerfest next month). In a lot of ways, it reminds me of one of my favorite Chicago bands, Disappears, but it’s without question its own thing, flecked with krautrock and shuddering post-punk, addictive, down-in-the-mix (maybe wordless) vocals and that gleaming guitar sound.
Maisie Kappler, “Fit for a Queen” – I’m a recent convert to Columbus singer-songwriter Maisie Kappler, but after she played an outdoor show recently, friends came back raving about her performance and her songs on a bill of some of our sharpest and most innovative bands of the moment. This perfect song weaves finely etched portraits of a grandmother into a thick, shimmering fog of drone and a melody that keeps me chasing it. “When I was younger, I asked my grandmother how she held on to her youth. She stared at her whiskey, then she answered, ‘vanity.’ Surely, it must have been true; and if so, I’ve nothing to lose.”
Johnny Gandelsman, “New to the Session” for Violin – Violinist Johnny Gandelsman’s magnum opus This Is America is part of a wave of classical/new music/whatever you want to call it records that have given me a lot of hope this month, engaging with the present moment in all its fucked-up-itude and still finding beauty in all of it. This Rhiannon Giddens composition is a standout, but I’ve gone back to the well of this album over and over again.
Kirk Knuffke, “The Sun Is Always Shining” – I think I fell for Kirk Knuffke’s cornet work when I was lucky enough to see my first Butch Morris conduction at the Bowery Poetry Club in the mid-’00s. That impression was cemented with the Steve Lacy tribute collective Ideal Bread (which also turned me onto Josh Stinton), and it’s grown deeper with every record since. His new trio, Gravity Without Airs, links him with two titans of the NYC improvisation scene from the previous generation, Matthew Shipp on piano and Michael Bisio on bass, and it’s every bit as good as you’d hope with those players. A marvel of coiled control and explosive joy, often at the same time, it moves and shakes, what feels like tossed-off fragments recur in surprising ways, and the ball is tossed from one player to the other in a way that only works with deep empathy and deep listening.
Ches Smith, “Mixed Metaphor” – Ches Smith is one of my favorite percussionists and drummers going way back, I think I first heard him with Mary Halvorson, but in recent years he’s blown me away time after time holding down the drum chair in Tim Berne’s Snakeoil (which took Anne and her Mom by surprise when we saw them in Chicago) and Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog as well as last year’s mind-blowing deep dive into Haitian music We All Break. His Interpret It Well takes the fascinating trio of violist Mat Maneri, keyboard player Craig Taborn, and Smith and brings in the melodic mystery of guitarist Bill Frisell. It’s a quarter that has all the mysteries of life in it and understands the beauty of quietness but can conjure a fiery meteor shower as easily as rain on the roof, then make you really see the smoldering ash in the aftermath.
Carole Nelson Trio, “Chrysalis” – Irish pianist Carole Nelson, with longtime foils bassist Cormac O’Brien and drummer Dominic Mullan, works with slightly sharper edges but conjures a sound world that reminds me a lot of the Knuffke and Smith with her terrific Night Visions album. This leadoff track highlights delirious, melting arco work from O’Brian and a rhythmic assurance in Nelson’s touch that never wavers no matter how much space she leaves her partners.
Kali Malone, “Living Torch I” – Stockholm-based composer Kali Malone trades the organic textures of a pipe organ for a bank of synthesizers and brings in the voices of Mats Äleklint on trombone and Isak Hedtjärn on bass clarinet. The textures in this, the evolution, takes my breath away.
John Moreland, “Claim Your Prize” – Tulsa singer-songwriter John Moreland expands his palette and view of the world on every record, and his sweeping and ferociously intimate Birds in the Ceiling hits buttons in my story-song-loving chest I don’t think have been pushed so hard since Fred Eaglesmith’s Dusty 18 years ago. Producer Matt Pence – who got my attention with Slobberbone offshoot The Drams’ Jubilee Drive, still one of my favorite summer-coming-on records and a couple of the best Glossary albums – adds sparse, unsettling drums to three tracks, including this one. John Calvin Abney’s keyboard textures and Bonnie Whitmore’s atmospheric, empathetic bass (and cello) work help put these dark songs that couldn’t help but draw you in inside an entire world of pain and reward. “I wasn’t sleeping. The moon was high this morning when your certain kind of sorrow came and touched me without warning. And the lies you tell yourself to try and feel okay, well, they all come at a price that somebody has to pay.”
Kimberly Kelly, “Person That You Marry” – Songwriter Lori McKenna is about as close as I have to a sure thing these days, and I think I found Kimberly Kelly through McKenna (who co-wrote this with Kelly and Brett Tyler) posting something on her Instagram. This finely chiseled high point of her rock-solid debut album, I’ll Tell You What’s Gonna Happen is an excellent showcase of the warmth of her voice and a stellar example of the power of country music to pay tribute and memorialize the moments we might all let slip past, given their proper beauty and weight through attention. “He didn’t drink that much. He didn’t just give up. He didn’t yell that loud; we would’ve worked it out, somehow. I knew you in love, but this is war: nothing’s fair, nothing’s sure.”
Vieux Farka Touré, “Les Racines” – One of my landmark musical moments – even still – was catching the Malian master Ali Farka Touré at the Southern Theater the summer between my first and sophomore years of college. I’d only recently discovered his records, but seeing it live in one of the best-sounding theaters I’ve still ever seen, made me feel like I was floating. His son Vieux Farka Touré has carried on and expanded upon that hallowed tradition with one great record after another, and Les Racines (French for “Roots”) is no exception. This title track centers on Touré’s lilting, thoughtful guitar melody and sets it amidst subtle percussion from Moussa Dembele and Madou Sidiki Diabate’s kora.
Isaiah Collier and the Chosen Few featuring Osunlade, “Guidance (Yoruba Soul Remix)” – Chicago saxophonist Isaiah Collier and his band the Chosen Few grapple with the pervasive spiritual and seeking influence of John Coltrane on last year’s Cosmic Transitions, which I’m sorry to say I missed until this remix by St Louis producer Osunlade hit my radar. It uses melody to get at a deeper truth, and it uses smoothness to create a backdrop for its searching; Collier’s solo around the five-minute mark feels like gold bubbling up through a stretch of desert no one’s walked upon in many years.
Feli Colina, “Diabla” – The sharp, hard-hitting piano driving this infectious dance smash from Argentinian Colina felt like it tied together with the tones of the previous couple of songs even though it operates on a different level of rhythmic intensity.
Tumi Mogorosi, “Walk with Me” – I don’t know a lot about the South African jazz scene. I assume I found this through Phil Freeman’s essential Stereogum column, but Tumi Mogorosi, a drummer and composer’s Group Theory: Black Music album, grabbed me and didn’t let go. The chorus mingles with some juicy horn writing for Mthunzi Mvubu on alto (who also gets an unhurried solo but with teeth here) and Tumi Pheko’s trumpet. Reza Khota’s guitar strings perfect diamond-bright-and-hard notes with a sense of melodic surprise and well-timed snarled warmth, all on the foundation of a stellar rhythm section of Mogorosi and Dalisu Ndlazi on bass.
Laura Veirs, “Signal” – I’ve been a fan of Veirs for a long time, probably starting when she was coming to the Wexner Center in 2007, but – as I was telling her occasional collaborator, video and film director Devin Febboriello when Anne and I had dinner with her and her husband Mike Gamble last week her new one, Found Light co-produced by Veirs and Shazad Ismaily, feels like a new statement of purpose, another level of feeling and clarity. The saunter of this track with drums that sound like they’re sneaking up on everything from around the corner and the flickering organ set up one of my favorite melodies and lyrics on an album I couldn’t find a bad track from. “I know you’re somewhere turning into your best self. I’m over here yearning, passing time best as I know how.”
Tyshawn Sorey Trio, “Enchantment” – Drummer Tyshawn Sorey has made waves in the last several years with his compositions, for his own groups, and for chamber ensembles, and I’m as big a fan of that as anybody. But his new album, Mesmerism, finds him assembling a record of standards, firmly in the jazz piano tradition with two of the finest exemplars of the form working today, Columbus native Aaron Diehl on piano and bassist Matt Brewer. Their take on this Horace Silver composition retains the beauty of its melody and pushes the groove a little, a similar rhythmic intensity but at a right angle to Silver’s always right-on-time funkiness. Hearing Diehl go slightly outside of his comfort zone (and I’ve been a big fan of his last several records) and experiencing Sorey applying his signature drumming to a series of classics is an unalloyed delight.
Quiet Sonia, “No Weeping Melts the Armor” – I fell for the expansiveness of this seven-piece Danish folk-rock band; I like the crescendoing beginning, the swells, the ebbs and flows of this 15-minute track that at times reminds me of The National and Destroyer around songs by Nikolaj Bruus that almost dare you to make a linear narrative out of them. “Now salvage your last scraps of dignity, show some guts, soul, and presence. ‘Cause I’ve seen the last of the human cities, and tears welled up in my eyes.”
Wade Bowen featuring Vince Gill, “A Guitar, A Singer, and A Song” – Wade Bowen carries the torch of various strains of Texas country, and his lovely, lived-in tenor gets a damn fine showcase in this Lori McKenna co-write, a standout from his new one Somewhere Between the Secret and the Truth, with a gorgeous assist on the bridge from one of the genre’s finest modern harmony singers and guitarists, Vince Gill. “So, I’ll write you a thousand songs, and I’ll play you a thousand shows. It’ll feel like a thousand years. Some will remember me, and some won’t.”
Alessandro Napolitano, “I’ll Remember Jimmy” – Italian jazz drummer Alessandro Napolitano assembles a quartet of Columbus B-3 titan Tony Monaco, guitarist Fabio Zeppetella, and vibes player Mark Sherman for a swinging eponymous record NZMS including this romp through a Monaco composition in tribute to the great Jimmy Smith.
Nicky Egan, “This Life” – This title track from Brooklyn singer-songwriter Nicky Egan’s debut album on Colemine Records, who can seem to do no wrong lately, plays with similar themes of memory and acceptance, and similar tone worlds, bathed in the August light that spills in the windows of a bar or coffee shop in mid-afternoon.
Bree Runway, “Somebody Like You” – Racing headlong into the yearning the last few songs hinted at, and following it straight up to the stars, Bree Runway crafts a tribute to the person she hopes to meet, wrapped in blankets of liquid synths and a cracking drum machine part under a soaring melody. “Don’t wanna wait till morning hours. Don’t wanna wait too long; let’s dive in.”
Claudia Valentina, “Extra Agenda” – A more up-tempo R&B track, this infectious Claudia Valentina tune feels like youthful infatuation and makes me miss those days you could find me in the club as often as at a show. That layered autotune at the very edge of the uncanny valley, and the flattened, synthetic drums drive that catchy melody to the back of the stands. “When I need your taste, don’t walk; run it.”
Brooklyn Queen, “Mentions” – Turning up the intensity, this track from Detroit-based rapper Brooklyn Queen recalls the wider social aspects, glee, and frustration of youth, at a barreling pace. “Why you in my mentions with the bullshit?”
BAYLI, “think of drugs” – I’m a sucker for a good love-as-drugs metaphor, and this powerful, intimate track by Brooklyn’s BAYLI is the best take on that I’ve heard in years. BAYLI balances heaviness and joy in this perfect three-minute pop song, piecing together her own Queer identity, facing childhood trauma, and building her identity, with a melody that sneaks up on and surprises you. “I don’t care, truth or dare – I was never really scared. I’m not sad, I’m not sad, I’m just letting go of tears. Caught the bag in my lap for the cold, hard pill, it don’t matter how I feel, ‘cause the pain is really real.”
Esthesis Quartet, “Cricket” – This leadoff track from the exciting debut album of Esthesis Quartet, written and rehearsed over Zoom during the lockdown and recorded in Los Angeles, exemplifies the sense of joy and tactile play inherent in creation I get throughout their eponymous record. The fluid melody from flute player Elsa Nilsson in the intro returns in more of the mode of flute on the classic James Brown records after some raucous barrelhouse piano from Dawn Clement, held together by the melodic power of Emma Dayhuff’s bass work and Tina Raymond’s surprising, funky clatter on the drums.
Mariel Buckley, “Shooting At The Moon” – Mariel Buckley commands a more straightforward groove with the same sense of reckless abandon as the last couple of songs. I enjoyed her previous two records, but the new one, Everywhere I Used To Be, really knocks me over. The smears of pedal steel and swinging bounce of the bass against the straighter time of the drums feels like a sniper’s sight being narrowed at memory the character just can’t shake. “I hear the echo bouncing off the walls; it sounds a lot like me. All the other voices sound so sweet, but honey, they don’t know who I used to be.”
Rose Gold, “Addicted” – Baltimore R&B singer Rose Gold gives us a torch song for the ages, with crisp, subtle drumming, sweeping strings, and a sweeping melody sung with finesse and control. She doesn’t bite off lyrics like “I hear my mama, like, ‘Why am I not fucking perfect?’ Why can’t I kick this shit? I think I’m addicted,” she drizzles them over you, letting the pain sink in over time.
Lera Lynn, “Eye in the Sky” – Lera Lynn’s Something More Than Love zooms between the wide angle and the close-up. Co-written and produced with her partner Todd Lombardo, this closing track takes advantage of every crevice and nuance of her voice, with a subtle, sympathetic backing as the record leaves questions hanging in the air, telling an elliptical story that’s always colored with a sense of hope and promise and burdened with expectations. “High on pride, you thought you were flying, but you might be wrong. Eye in the sky like someone was watching you all along. Mmm-hmm. But you might be wrong.”
Tami Neilson, “The Grudge” – The lacerating strings arranged by Victoria Kelly and oily banjo-led creep of the tempo on this sleek narrative from her excellent fifth album, The Kingmaker, part warning and part beckoning, and the coiled restraint of Tami Neilson’s muscular voice recalls Bobbie Gentry, murder-ballad Dolly Parton, and a slew of artists who came out of that still-beguiling swamp after, like Neko Case, Arum Rae, and Grey DeLisle, but she threads the needle of nodding to that rich history without being too beholden to it.
MELD, “Eye on the Road” – Nashville’s MELD’s new single has enough sunshine bounce to appeal to the jam band crowd, but her background in both Americana and vintage soul gives the tune enough ballast and grit to keep it grounded. That chorus, a cry in the dark, playing with the classic metaphor of the road as life – ending in the same “final destination” and paying tribute to someone gone, with a horn arrangement I can’t get enough of, pushing and supporting her golden voice. “Now it’s time I find my way away from the hands that shelter me.”
Dylan Triplett, “All Blues” – I’m pretty sure I have John Wendland’s excellent KDHX radio show – Memphis to Manchester – to thank for turning me on to St Louis’ 21-year-old R&B phenom Dylan Triplett. Somehow, I’d missed the Oscar Brown Jr lyrics at some point grafted onto this Miles Davis classic off Kind of Blue, but I love the jaunty, swinging Friday night take Triplett gives this tune I’ve played a thousand times.
Anna Butterss featuring Josh Johnson, “Number One” – This first solo album from LA bassist Anna Butterss who’s logged time with Makaya McCraven and Phoebe Bridgers, is a perfect example of music that encompasses the entire world as she sees it. Her flowing, twisting bass lines and synth stabs build whole landscapes out of light with Johnson’s (Chicago Underground Quartet, Jeff Parker and the New Breed, Leon Bridges) alto sax.
Lyle Lovett, “The Mocking Ones” – Someone else with one foot in jazz and one in lyric-oriented songwriting, Lyle Lovett’s never made a bad record, but his new one, 12^th of July, was even more of a boon than usual. With a mix of great takes on standards and some of his sharp and warm originals, I wrestled with which song to put on this list. I kept coming back to this tribute to friendship and the pleasures of continuing to live. “I said before, and now the long time’s come to wait, forget, and still remember some. To hold our heads above the laughing tongues falling from the faces of the mocking ones.”
Horace Andy, “Try Love” – Another of my favorite voices – of an earlier vintage though I probably discovered the great roots reggae singer-songwriter Horace Andy around the same time I found Lovett’s work. This highlight off his new record, Midnight Rocker, pairs him with Adrian Sherwood of On-U Sound, and the arrangements make his voice pop without obscuring any of the wear or wisdom age has bestowed on that great instrument.
Omah lay, “Bend You” – This low-key but neon splashed seduction from Nigerian singer recalls the Andy to me in senses of timbre and control. A three am classic when the lights are about to come on too soon.
Sampa the Great featuring Denzel Curry, “Lane” – Zambian-born, Botswana-raised rapper-singer Sampa the Great teams up with Florida rapper Denzel Curry on this defiant, potent track about not staying in your lane, over smoky production from Power Pleasant (those suspended organ chords toward the middle get me every time). “Look at that now. You were staying in your lane. You was thinking that I had one. Thinking you’re Geppetto, pulling strings. You ain’t get the memo.”
Theo Croker featuring Jill Scott, “TO BE WE” – I came to know trumpeter-bandleader Theo Croker through late-night sets at Winter Jazzfest, often leading stellar, star-studded jam sessions with simultaneous confidence. He brings that same unshowy ethos and gorgeous tone that can slice through any barroom conversation or anxious monologue to his new record Love Quantum. Featured vocalist Jill Scott I’ve been a fan of since her first record in 2000, which I bought the week it was released, only knowing she co-wrote the Roots single “You Got Me.” Her mix of slow-burn singing and spoken word still punches me right in the solar plexus, and she adds the right flavors to this expansive slow jam “Freedom is my favorite position.”
Ruger featuring Harlem Richard$ and Jace, “Possession (Remix) – I couldn’t find much about this track by Nigerian singer-rapper Ruger, but I love it. The repeated, melting piano chords in the background, the stuttered typewriter drums, and the warbly, distorted backing vocals are like shadows on a brick wall.
Ronnie Foster, “Swingin’” – I owe thanks to dear friend Andrew Patton for turning me onto organist Ronnie Foster’s return to Blue Note with the delightful Reboot. Best known for an appearance on Songs in the Key of Life and a long association with George Benson, this track brings Foster back to his organ trio roots with the simpatico camaraderie of Michael O’Neill on guitar and Jimmy Branly on drums.
Binker Golding, “Howling and drinking in God’s own country” – Sax player Binker Golding is another light from that London jazz scene you all know I’m crazy about. His new record, Dream Like a Dogwood Wild Boy, is jam-packed with interesting melodies and intense playing. Guitarist Billy Adamson adds some unsettling accents and twangy texture that ties the previous song and the one after together, as does Sarah Tandy’s jaunty, running forward but always grounded piano (check that solo around the 4-minute mark) and the crisp rhythm section of Daniel Casimir and Sam Jones.
Dan Tyminski with Dailey and Vincent, “Ten Degrees and Getting Colder” – Dan Tyminski, who I became familiar with as Allison Krauss’s baritone vocal foil, contributes an excellent addition to the canon of Tony Rice tribute albums with his EP One More Time Before You Go, pairing with bluegrass band Dailey and Vincent on this lovely read of a Gordon Lightfoot classic Rice sang on the eponymous JD Crowe and the New South album.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, “Have You Felt Lately” – Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith uses the stretched-taffy tones, and bright, sharp colors of synthesizers and the stuttered drums and percussion of EDM and runs it through a filter of experience. The pitched-up vocals and the low, rumbling horn sounds collide against each other, painting a larger picture in the time span of a pop song.
Amanda Shires, “Bad Behavior” – I’ve liked every Amanda Shires record more than the last, but the new one, Take It Like a Man, blew every expectation I had out of the water in the best possible way. Working with producer Lawrence Rothman, she found the most sympathetic collaborator I think she’s ever had for every element of her interests and curiosity. This swirling series of faded photographs of giving into our worst impulses, with an arrangement full of echoing synths, hard drums, and a come hither vocal for the ages, has kept me coming back again and again. “Call it bad behavior. Maybe I like strangers. So what if I do? Maybe I only think about you.”

Tags Alessandro Napolitano, Alya Al Sultani, Amanda Shires, Anna Butterss, Aquiles Navarro, Bad Bunny, BAYLI, Binker Golding, Bree Runway, Brooklyn Queen, Carole Nelson, Charles Ruggiero, Ches Smith, Claudia Valentina, Dailey and Vincent, Dan Tyminski, David Nance, Denzel Curry, Dylan Triplett, Earl Vallie, El Alfa, Esthesis Quartet, Feli Colina, Harlem Richard$, Horace Andy, Isaiah Collier, Jace, Jill Scott, John Moreland, John Scofield, Johnny Gandelsman, Josh Johnson, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Kali Malone, Kimberly Kelly, kirk knuffke, Laura Veirs, Lera Lynn, Lyle Lovett, Maisie Kappler, Mariel Buckley, MELD, moor mother, music, Nicky Egan, Omah lay, Osunlade, Playlist, Quiet Sonia, recorded music, Ronnie Foster, Rose Gold, Ruger, Sampa the Great, Theo Croker, Tony Dize, Tony Monaco, Tumi Mogorosi, Tyshawn Sorey, Vieux Farka Toure, Vince Gill, Vladislav Delay, Wade Bowen, Water Damage, Winged Wheel, Wormrot

Playlist record reviews

Playlist – June 2022

As I write (most of) this on July 4, I look at the world on fire with another senseless massacre of a young black man in Akron, multiple recent assaults on rights trying to drive us back to the stone age, and the recurring drumbeat of mass shootings – and the ever-present awareness that people of color, women, and people without a financial safety net always suffer first and worse. I’m donating to abortion funds, trying to donate to vulnerable senate races, and grappling for more direct action I can be of help with.

So, I know putting together playlists and sending them out on the air is even less important than usual. But I also remind myself that staying in touch with art and people does matter and joy is important. The two best things listening with an ear for things that spark this and compiling/ordering it into a list give me are the feedback and spirited discussions from the handful who read this and the part it plays in my gratitude practice. Thank you to anyone who reads this.

https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/8d9f9df7-01c1-4a7a-9020-65568ad4f0f3

Tags !!!, Amanda Shires, Angel Olsen, Anteloper, BabyFace Ray, Billy Woods, Bogie Band, Bootsy Collins, Chastity Brown, Chip Kinman, Colin Stetson, Courting, Diatom Deli, Dirty Fences, Doe Boy, drive-by truckers, Duke Deuce, Editrix, Golomb, Horsegirl, jaimie branch, Joan Shelley, Joe Russo, John Paul Keith, Kevin Morby, Kraked Unit, Lateef, Leon Timbo, Lettuce, Linda Lindas, Lizz Wright, Lyrics Born, Makaya McCraven, Mary Gauthier, Meah Pace, Mereba, Mike Ladd, MJ Lenderman, music, Party Dozen, Patty Griffin, Playlist, Plunky, PUBLIQuartet, Ralph White, Rayvn Lenae, recorded music, Sarah Plum, Scrunchies, SG Goodman, Sharon Van Etten, Shelley FKA Dram, Shilpa Ray, Soccer Mommy, Spodee Boy, Steve Earle, Submissives, Sylvan Esso

"Hey, Fred!" live music

Things I’ve Been Digging – 01/04/2021

Post author By rsanford614
Post date January 4, 2021
No Comments on Things I’ve Been Digging – 01/04/2021

Welcome back, anyone still reading this. I appreciate the kind words about the year-end wrap-up posts more than I can ever say, and I always appreciate all of you. Hoping we’re only a few months away from easing into my bending some of your ears in person, but I hope and intend to keep this up even when most of the things I love in a week are back out in the world. Keep the faith, stay safe, burn your lanterns of hope.

I started 2021 strong on the New Year’s Eve weekend with three shows that reminded me that music and storytelling are frequently social forms. Instead of making me despair at being so far away from the people I’d be seeing shows with – and the bands I’d be dancing to – it made me feel warm and close to that vibration.

Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Derry deBorja, taken from stream and edited

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, 12/31/2020

I prepped for a round of Zoom New Year’s Eve celebrations by getting dressed and dancing in the living room to Isbell’s finely tuned band’s perfect mix of rocking wistfulness, ass-shaking melancholy, soulful empathy, and hope for the world.

Isbell’s 2020 record Reunions played with cleaner, shimmering textures and rhythms than his last few and continued the more open arrangements and space for the band to make their mark started with The Nashville Sound. For many of us, even those of us who are sick of that sparkling Dire Straits guitar, those tones cut a distinct tunnel to nostalgia, and Isbell used that with a perfect set of songs about his (and our) growing up and also about living in the world now.

For someone who’s written so many stirring crowd-pleasers, I enjoyed seeing how these new songs held their own and made space in dialogue with tunes we’ve been singing along to for years. Wrapping the encore with his surging anthem to questioning and rejecting complacency, to the implacable sense we can all always be doing better, “What Have I Done To Help,” felt like a perfect hymn for the coming year. It also felt like the character’s direct evolution from his breakout hit “Cover Me Up” played right before.

The melancholy of nostalgia and longing for absent friends in songs like “Dreamsicle” and “Only Children,” bloomed in three dimensions, a reminder that memory and paying witness are celebrations even when we’re sad. The surge of the rhythm section helped keep anything – even songs in a quieter space like “Something More Than Free” – from being staid or stiff, and there was always air for the melodic flights of Amanda Shires’ violin and Sadler Vaden and Isbell’s dueling guitars to spark off one another.

Weird as it was seeing the full Brooklyn Bowl light show cut through the shadows of their cavernous, empty Nashville outpost, this never felt like a rehearsal. Nothing seemed phoned in or rushed, nor was it too slick. This set reminded me of the promise of a great, muscular rock band on a good night. It made me hungry to be in the room for the real thing but grateful for this marker until we can do that.

Maceo Parker, Bruno Speight, and Will Boulware, taken from stream and edited

Maceo Parker, SFJAZZ, 01/01/2021 (archival from 2015)

Maceo’s horn has defined American music from the early 1960s on. I was lucky enough to see him with Prince, with Ani Difranco (in a double bill that still feels like the most fun I’ve ever seen two bands have on stage with one another), and tearing up the Scioto Mile on a ferocious free summer set.

I’ve rhapsodized about the SFJAZZ streams for members in this space, and we were treated to an exquisite example from Parker’s 2015 NYE run. I marveled at the way Parker builds and sustains these relationships, how much gratitude he brings to this band, and in return, how tight they are as a unit, following through the kaleidoscopic range of moods and tones he calls out.

He reached back through pieces of his (and the nation’s) history in a tight hour and ten set. He briefly touched on the jazz of the booking’s name with a sweet duet on the Ellington classic “Satin Doll” as a duo with keyboardist Will Boulware. His JBs days got sultry, hard-edged workout on “Make It Funky,” featuring a flame-licked trombone solo from Greg Boyer (who he met in his days with George Clinton) and a closing tent-revival version of “Pass the Peas.”

Nikki Glaspie from Dumpstaphunk and the Nth Power kicked Parker’s classic Prince collaboration “Baby Knows” from Dial M-A-C-E-O into high gear with a crackling drum intro. She threw that same explosive energy into the slightly smoother shine of their arrangement on The Meters’ “Hey Pocky A-Way.”

Her hookup with P-Funk bassist Rodney “Skeet” Curtis shone throughout the set, especially on moments like her perfect, surprising comping behind his melodic slap solo on the Parker original “Off The Hook.” The band worked just as well when the energy slipped into a simmer, especially on an instrumental cover of Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” the let Parker show off that sweet but never too sugary tone in full undulating pillow talk mode.

In addition to shouting out the band and creating showcase spots for them, Parker even made time to shout out and thank the crew from the stage, many of them by name. That love for people lit up the band and the music, bringing a tear to my eye.

Lenny Kaye and the Lonesome Prairie Dogs, taken from the stream and edited

Various Artists, Hank-O-Rama, Bowery Electric, 01/01/2021

For the last 17 years, Brooklyn roots band The Lonesome Prairie Dogs have honored Hank Williams with a set on the day he died, making up for the Canton Ohio show he missed. This year, they marked the anniversary with a stream from Bowery Electric.

Lenny Kaye played pedal steel on almost everything. The Lonesome Horns (a trio of brass players from Antibalas led by Jordan McLean) augmenting several songs enhanced this hard-swinging four-piece core. This seasoned NYC institution tore through raging party classics like “Settin’ The Woods On Fire” and aching ballads like “Cold, Cold Heart” with equal aplomb.

A rotating set of other lead singers fleshed out the visions of Hank here, with East Village organizer and singer-songwriter Tom Clark, MC Lindy Loo, and Sean Kershaw all taking turns at the mic, along with Kaye stepping out from behind the steel for his tribute to Williams’ alter ego Luke the Drifter (from his 1984 Lenny Kaye Connection record) and the Lonesome Horns’ rotating lead vocals on “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”

These Bowery Electric shows always remind me of what I love most about New York, the way scenes feel malleable and overlap and this sense of “Kids putting on a show” but with the highest caliber of musicians you’ll find anywhere. Even some technical rough spots – moments where multiple singers worked together, as the finale “I Saw The Light” exposed some serious monitor problems – made this feel like home.

Tags Amanda Shires, bowery electric, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, Greg Boyer, Hank Williams, Jason Isbell, Jordan McLean, Lenny Kaye, Lindy Loo, live music, Lonesome Prairie Dogs, Maceo Parker, Nikki Glaspie, Rodney Skeet Curtis, Sean Kershaw, SFJAZZ, Tom Clark, Will Boulware

Best Of live music

Best of 2019: Live Music

In a year when I swung wildly between the longing to retreat at full steam into my shell and desperate, frenzied attempts at connection, it sometimes got harder to find solace in music. But whenever I’d get discouraged, live music was still there and reminding me why it’s been such a force in my life all these years. In the same way gratitude and attention helped pull me back – even if sometimes only for a little while – I found some of the greatest joy in old forms given surprising faces, artists I’d loved for years scaling a new Parnassus or two, further refinement and sharpness of voices.

140 shows in eight cities and narrowing it down to these 20 (with another 10 sets from various festivals) was as hard as ever. I found it interesting that old standby Dick’s Den got the most of my business, hitting an average of twice a month; Ace of Cups continues to ease into Bobby Miller’s booking as he lines up perfectly with the room and saw me 15 times this year; I finally got off my ass and made the amazing booking (for my taste mostly from Jen Powers but also from other dedicated souls) at Dirty Dungarees a priority with 8 stops. Rumba Cafe, The Johnstone Fund for New Music’s shows at Short North Stage, the Wexner Center, and Natalie’s all made their usual strong showings.

None of us know what’s in store but I’m excited again – for plans already booked (NYC for Winter Jazzfest, and other APAP-adjacent fun and again for my birthday, a reunited Bikini Kill in Detroit) and the continued synchronicity of my community. Some of what has me pumped: the most exciting cultural opening of the year, Scott Woods’ Streetlight Guild is already more than delivering on its promise; I’ve seen the new Natalie’s space in Grandview and it’s everything they do well on a larger scale; Filament perfected its mix of exciting touring acts and local conjurers to create the best intimate listening room in town; my first trips to the renovated Snowden-Gray Mansion revealed a brilliant room for exciting, traditional jazz; word on venues I haven’t made it to yet like BluNote Cafe and Savoy Club has me hungry to visit them.

All photos are taken by me unless otherwise stated. Everything below is in Columbus unless otherwise stated.

Mark Lomax II and Urban Art Ensemble, Lincoln Theatre

Mark Lomax II and Urban Art Ensemble: “The 400 Premiere,” Lincoln Theatre presented by the Wexner Center for the Arts (01/26/2019) – This spellbinding evening represented the culmination of Mark Lomax, Columbus’ finest living composer’s most ambitious project to date. As though 12 full-length, wide ranging albums tracing the African diaspora from the ma’afa into the future wasn’t enough, Lomax arranged a suite for the Urban Art Ensemble including almost a half hour of brand new material. Blistering performances and the finest integration of strings with jazz I’ve ever seen, this kept me floating for days, from a composer and drummer I’ve been watching for 20 years.

Punch Brothers with Gabriel Kahane, Southern Theatre (03/20/2019) – Two artists with a foot in western chamber music and a foot in vernacular forms gave us expansive, open-hearted takes on staying engaged and in touch with the world. Kahane’s solo set focused on the Book of Travelers material with digressions into the rest of his work including a setting of the “That’s Not Your Man” tweets about Ohio-born president Rutherford B Hayes and a wrenching “The Ambassador.” The Punch Brothers continued their mission of refinement and complication with righteous, mysterious pieces like “Three Dots and a Dash,” and wistful snapshots like “New York City” and “Julep.”

Timothy Holley and Karen Walwyn, Wexner Center for the Arts (04/07/2019) – One of many highlights of Mark Lomax’s Wex residency was this presentation of renowned cellist Holley and pianist Walwyn. That afternoon they took us on a journey through African-American composers that opened my eyes with stirring pieces by Florence Price, Trevor Weston and more.

Dale Watson and his Texas Lonestars, Woodlands Tavern (04/19/2019) – The reigning king of the neo-honky tonk movement came up from Texas for a reminder that classic forms are as alive as you want them to be. Watson paints his stomps and waltzes in bright neon instead of sepia and one of the few times I’ve ever seen someone ask for requests from the audience and mean it as when he looked directly at me after I shouted for “I Hate These Songs” off the first of his Hightone records I bought 20 years ago, said, “Okay, we’ll do that one,” and launched into a perfect, aching version of that ode to music’s ability to embody all our pain.

Kath Bloom, Dirty Dungarees (04/30/2019) – Kath Bloom – who I grew up with the collaborative records with Loren Connors – gave a wrenching, perfect low-key set that resonated with everything I’ve always wanted a singer to be. A bone-deep love for the past fixing her eyes firmly on the now and a reminder that we can all keep getting better at things if we work hard enough and care enough.

IDLES with Fontaines DC, Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland (05/14/2019) – The most exciting rock and roll show I’ve seen in a while and the best summation of what rock and roll can do if we trust it, how it can still be a system to unlock new horizons instead of a system to box us in and keep us adolescent. IDLES are maybe the most exciting live band working today and their stew of hardcore rhythms, churning atmospheric guitars and hints of Birthday Party sardonic wit and Fontaines DC are coming up behind. A sold out crowd I was happy to be in, not tolerating, full of palpable love for the world, the kind of love where you want it to be better.

SIGNAL Ensemble with Brooklyn Youth Chorus: “Richter Reich Part,” The Shed, NYC (05/30/2019) – Two of my favorite composers given life in an immersive installation of one of my favorite visual artists, this was meant for me, and it delivered in spades.

Meah Pace, Rubenstein Ballroom at Lincoln Center

Meah Pace, Rubenstein Auditorium at Lincoln Center, NYC (05/30/2019) – Another case study in someone making old forms feel new and completely their own through intense commitment. Meah Pace turned out a version of “Gimme Shelter” that made me forget any I’d ever heard before and got a relatively staid crowd in this Lincoln Center auditorium dancing and cheering, and her own songs like “Promised Land” held their own. Probably my favorite surprise all year.

Tav Falco and the Panther Burns, Le Poisson Rouge, NYC (05/31/2019) – I’ve been a huge fan of Falco’s for years but I’d never gotten to see him live. This did not disappoint – his jagged, art-damaged takes on country blues and bubblegum even led him going back to standards like Dean Martin’s “Sway” and a poignant take on the Jaynetts’ “Sally Go Round the Roses.”

Joanne Brackeen/Lonnie Plaxico Duo, Mezzrow, NYC (06/01/2019) – Another legend I’d known from records but never seen live, Mezzrow was the perfect room for Joanne Brackeen’s fluid, sparkling take on the piano. Lonnie Plaxico – whose electic, electric records for Blue Note in the late ’90s/early ’00s were huge for me – was the perfect duet partner, sticking to upright on classics like “Autumn Leaves” and “When You Wish Upon a Star.” A perfect New York summer evening.

Daddy Long Legs, Rumba Cafe (07/11/2019) – My first time checking in with Daddy Long Legs live since a fantastic show where they backed R&B oddball T. Valentine at the Lakeside Lounge (RIP) and they’ve grown into one of the best bands working. Two guitars and drums attacking the sound made famous by the ’60s Stones with the fire of conquering generals.

Los Lobos and The Mavericks, Rose Music Center, Huber Heights (07/20/2019) – Rose is the perfect venue of its size and Ohio is richer for having it. This double bill made in heaven found the Mavericks (augmented by accordion, percussion and a full horn section) celebrating their 30th anniversary and Los Lobos 35 years from their breakthrough How Will the Wolf Survive album. Two muscular, swinging party bands, unabashedly Latinx, and the perfect thing for a summer night.

Davila 666, The Summit (07/24/2019) – Davila 666 returned after years of solo projects and reminded me why they’re one of the best bands I’ve ever seen. Songs I hadn’t heard in almost a decade, in a language I don’t speak, proved their hooks are still burned into my brain, daring me to sing along and dance like a madman. This was the perfect thing for Anne’s birthday to fall at midnight.

Amanda Shires, The Basement (08/15/2019) – Shires’ own records and bandleading get better and better every time I’m lucky enough to see her. In a Basement almost too crowded, she brought me to tears with a Songs:Ohia cover and made me swoon and shake with her originals. One of the greats.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists with Control Top, Rumba Cafe (08/21/2019) – It had been too long since I saw Ted Leo, his Pharmacists’ current lineup was the best Clash-style rock I’ve ever seen, hints of The Jam and Nick Lowe, classic Thin Lizzy and The Kinks. A fireball of joy and pain and grooves. Philly’s Control Top blew me away with tight songs, thick bass lines, and sparking, grim guitars.

Central Ohio Discovery Ensemble with composers Jennifer Jolley, Linda Kernohan, Mark Lomax, Jennifer Bernard Merkowitz, Michael Rene Torres, Charlie Wilmoth; and poets Scott Woods, Barbara Fant, Jennifer Hambrick, Louise Robertson, Dionne Custer Edwards, and Jeremy Glazier: “The Big Score,” Columbus Performing Arts Center (09/08/2019) – This collaboration is exactly the kind of thing I want more from Columbus. I was talking with one of the performers and said Jack and Zoe Johnstone have filled an immeasurable gap in Columbus, the one genre we were largely missing was new chamber music. This mix of some of our most interesting composers with some of our finest poets was a homerun 85% of the time and was always swinging for the fences.

Midnight Hour, Strongwater (10/03/2019) – This cinematic, sultry collaboration between Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad was perfect. A crack band highlighting Green on Red’s Jack Waterston on guitar and vocalists Loren Oden, Angela Munoz, and Saudia Mills, this moved from silky soul to rippling jazz to grinding funk.

Angel bat Dawid and Tha Brothahood, Wexner Center for the Arts (10/10/2019) – Angel bat Dawid embodies the soulful fire music tradition of Chicago and rides it into space. Her ringing clarinet and vocals have an incantatory power that levitated me right out of my seat and her crack band switched between reeds, percussion, electronics, Art Ensemble of Chicago-style but completely modern and singing these praises for today. The set that gives me the most hope for the future of jazz and the future of music at the Wex.

The Fantastic Four, PJ’s Lager House, Detroit (11/29/2019) – A quintessential Detroit night, the contemporary lineup of an underrated soul combo who recorded for labels like Motown and Westbound churning through Northern Soul classics like “The Whole World is a Stage,” “I Love You Madly” and “I’ve Got to Have You” in a tiny rock club with a cooking five piece band behind them. Passing tradition on in the right hands.

Reverend Horton Heat with Dave Alvin, New Bomb Turks, and Voodoo Glow Skulls, Majestic Theatre, Detroit (11/30/2019) – I don’t think I’d seen the Reverend Horton Heat in 15 years – whenever that tour with Supersuckers and Split Lip Rayfield (RIP) was – though they were the band I saw most often for many years. Our friends and hometown heroes New Bomb Turks plus the promise of Dave Alvin sitting in with the Rev got us to Detroit for our anniversary and this so far exceeded expectations I can barely describe it. Voodoo Glow Skulls had a crazy-fun opening set that made me nostalgic. Turks burned through a furious set that showed they haven’t lost a step in all these years. And the Reverend, augmented with a great piano player and a great, swinging drummer formerly of Brave Combo, had everyone in the palm of his hand. Watching he and Dave Alvin trade solos on classic Blasters tunes like “Marie, Marie” and “Long White Cadillac” reminded me why I loved live music in the first place and why I love it still.

Reverend Horton Heat and Dave Alvin, Majestic Theatre

Favorite Festival Sets:

Anbessa Orchestra, Cleveland Museum of Art

Heron Oblivion, Melted, Bluestone (02/24/2019)
Rachel and Vilray, New York Guitar Festival presents Memphis Minnie: In Search of the Hoodoo Lady, Brookfield Place, NYC (05/31/2019)
Anbessa Orchestra, Summer Solstice Fundraiser, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland (06/22/2019)

Amyl and the Sniffers, Burger Boogaloo, Oakland (07/05/2019)
Sheer Mag, Burger Boogaloo, Oakland (07/05/2019)
The Scientists, Burger Boogaloo, Oakland (07/06/2019)

VIVO String Quartet, “Black Angels,” VIVO Music Festival (08/30/2019)
Sweet Knives, Gonerfest, Memphis (09/26/2019)

The Oblivians with Quintron, Gonerfest, Memphis (09/27/2019)
Kelley Anderson, Gonerfest, Memphis (09/27/2019)