The Resurrection of Radio (Part Two)

I have been thinking about Austin radio for a while, especially since KUTX launched and reinvigorated the scene for me.  If you've read my blog before, then you know I am a musical omnivore and a data nerd, so the rest of this post certainly fits into the zone created by those two interests converging.

Two new stations that launched after KUTX and caught my attention for a while have already died, but when The Fringe and KOKE were on, they were sweet.  And do you know why?  Because they played their own style of excellent music, and not a playlist handed down from corporate.  But with what is left, and as promised in my earlier Part One post, here are my thoughts about the current landscape of Austin radio.  These are listed in my approximate order of preference and only include the ones I actually listen to.

KUTX  98.9
Sample Five:  The Sword, Paul McCartney, Lissie (covering Fleetwood Mac), Gary Clark Jr., Hank Williams.
Comment:  The new gold standard in Austin radio.  I had a moment this last weekend when I took my oldest out to my dad's place to do some woodwork in the barn and build the boy's Pinewood Derby car.  I have great memories of my Dad turning on old school country (rarely, he's not much of an excess sound guy) while we worked on stuff in his barn, so I turned the old jambox to 98.9 and it was freaking perfect.  Such a nice moment, warm sunlight streaming through the windows as I sat there with the boy making sawdust and singing along.
And also, of course, nothing is perfect and there are times that I can't listen to this station. Eklektikos is usually too far afield for me.  Some of the foreign/world music is outside of my comfort zone.  But this is still the best radio has ever been for me.

Sun Radio 100.1
Sample Five:  John Cougar Mellencamp, Kacey Musgraves, Alabama Shakes, Alejandro Escovedo, and someone named Amy Cook I had to Shazam.
Comment:  This station hews a little closer to the country/Americana sound than KUTX, but it still has that fantastic adventurous spirit of playing the tastefully mainstream along with the obscure. Maybe you could say this one sounds little more like Texas while KUTX sticks a little more to Austin.  But they are both pretty close to the same wheelhouse of authentic local music experiences. I have a good memory of listening to it one day while driving out to work with our puppy at his training school, getting a grand dose of Neil Young, Willie, the Decemberists, and Talking Heads, and changing out the presets on my radio right then and there to delete whatever had become of KOKE.  Also, like KUTX, no commercials except for those station announcements of who supports them.  Big thumbs up.

101X 101.5
Sample Five: Black Keys, Beastie Boys, Vance Joy, Oasis, Miike Snow
Comment:  They used to do a better job of sticking with the alternative/grunge type rock that I wanted to hear, but they still stick pretty close to that formula.  Being that they are owned by the same folks as KGSR, I'm sure the corporate overlords tell them that Vance Joy, Capital Cities (death to you, "Safe and Sound"), and Bastille are going to put more ears onto the dial for longer, but I wish they could just base their sound on Nirvana and the Chili Peppers and then branch out slightly from there.  So, as it is, I have more issues with this station than I used to, but it still does a pretty good job of playing alternative rock.  I also find great humor in their morning show.  

KLBJ 93.7
Sample Five: The Guess Who, Def Leppard, Supertramp, AC/DC, and Steely Dan.
Comment:  This station has been the same since my childhood, I honestly think that they play AC/DC every five songs, so it made me laugh to get one of their tracks in the sample five I did. They'll throw in a few more 90's alternative acts (Nirvana, STP) than they did when I was a kid, but I've got nothing wrong with any of that.  Sometimes it is fun to just rock out with AC/DC or Hendrix or the Stones.  Also owned by the Emmis Communications folks.

Mix 94.7
Sample Five:  Taylor Swift, Twenty One Pilots, Justin Timberlake, Ellie Goulding, Maroon 5
Comment:  I'm actually surprised that Taylor Swift isn't every other song on this station. This is, without any doubt, the favorite station of my children, which is brutal for me.  There are some times when I can enjoy it just fine, but I swear to God they use a playlist with a total of 20 songs on it so that they can DRILL those tunes into my kids' brains without mercy.  My five year old likely couldn't actually tell me the words, but she can make a passable facsimile of the tones and tunes so that it sounds like she is telling me that she and TayTay think that guy is "handsome as hell."  Ugh.

My other pre-set is KUT, but I'll admit that I used to frequently tune 101.5 up to 102.3 to see if any good rap was playing.  The resounding and constant answer?  HELL NO.

102.3 The Beat
Sample Five:  Jeremih, Justin Bieber, The Chainsmokers, Travis $cott, The Weeknd.
Comment:  This station calls itself "Austin's Hip Hop" station, but as far as I am concerned, nothing could be farther from the truth.  Chainsmokers is EDM, Justin Bieber is sure as hell not hip hop or rap, and The Weeknd is weird/alt R&B.  Jeremih is maybe some garbage rap - mainly singing over a DJ Mustard beat.  When I did my first sample of tracks on this station last fall, I had to Shazam four of the five songs because they were all generic young R&B singer soft core ballads that I'd never heard of.  This one is a Clear Channel/I Heart Radio station, so you know that the corporate robot has decreed that straight rap won't sell in Austin.  Dammit.

And even more rarely, I'll twist down 93.7 to 93.3 (KGSR) to see if things have gotten any better.  In general, the answer is not much.

KGSR 93.3
Sample Five: X Ambassadors, The Killers, Ed Sheeran, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, Bob Marley.
Comment:  Props to them for the Nathaniel Rateliff, and I still dig some old school Bob Marley as a good Austin-ish changeup, but otherwise they are so far afield from their old sound.  The X Ambassadors song is kind of dark electro with piano, the Killers song was great twenty years ago but tires me out now, and I can't stand Ed Sheeran's ode to being old and in love.  I just went and looked up their broadcast history, and they've played Matchbox 20 and Maroon 5 in the last hour.  This is not the sound of Austin.

And with some level of incredulity, I present to you the most recent official Neilsen ratings for Austin, presented as of July 2015.

1. Bob-FM 103.5.  One of those "we play anything" stations found all over the country. Nice because no talk.  Pretty bland.
2. KASE 100.7.  Good to bad country.
3. KHFI 96.7.  Pop and lite rap.
4. KVET 98.1.  More good to bad country.
5. KUT 90.5.  NPR's talk only station.
6. 102.3 The Beat.  As discussed above, freaking terrible.
7. Magic 95.5.  Soft rock and classics.  I would have guessed higher on this list for all of the doctor and dentist office play it likely gets.
8. Mix 94.7.  All Taylor Swift all the time.  Current pop hits.
9. KLBJ 93.7.  Classic/album rock.
10. 105.9 KFMK.  Apparently a Christian station called Spirit 105.9.  Never heard of that in my life.

The moral of that story is that people suck and have bad taste.  I need to get one of those Neilsen rating machines to carry around.  I can be the hope and change radio needs.  I found another ratings website, which shows that when Christmas rolls around, Magic 95 CRUSHES the competition.  If you look back to October, since I assume they start playing Christmas crazy (and annoyingly) early, it looks like the Oct. ratings general track those above.  Bob, KVET, KASE, KUT, Magic, and the Beat all 5.0 and above.

So, while I am loving the ability to just Spotify whatever I want whenever I want while in the car, it is encouraging to know that some good options are still out there when you just want to veg out and let someone else curate your soundtrack.

The Resurrection of Radio (Part One)

I had the idea to write about Austin radio a while back, but when I realized by friend Joseph had never even heard of KUTX, I had to make this a priority.  Come on, JC.

When I was in high school, I got to do an internship class where students took a period or two and went out into the workforce to get a taste of something they might want to do in the future.  Being that I am a music nerd, I chose radio.  My teacher got me in with the folks at Magic 95.5 and Froggy 94.7, so I started going over to their building out on 360 to get a taste of the business.  

On the left, what I actually had to hear all day (Sloop John B).  On the right, what I wanted to hear all day (Pumpkins).
For the most part, my role was minimally tied to the music itself.  Instead, I was the guy cleaning up the promo closet, opening mail, delivering stuff around the offices, and typing up some of the "Magic of Austin" segments about local charity events.  "Part of the magic of Austin is the Central Texas Blood Bank, doing a blood drive this Saturday from 1 to 4 at the Coliseum!  Come on by!"  But every once in a while I got to do stuff in the studios, and it felt super awesome to be so close to the place where the magic happened. 

However, I was naive about the way radio worked.  I had always thought that being on the radio meant that you get to show off your kick ass musical knowledge or delve into the deep cuts from your favorite band.  Not happening in corporate radio of the mid-90's.  One of the jobs I was tasked with was helping a blind DJ translate his setlist into braille.  The corporate owners of the station would send faxes of the required setlist for the day, handed down from the mothership as law.  I would read those to the DJ while he typed it all up in his little machine.  I have no clue how he subsequently found the right CDs to insert, I suppose they had braille to help him do that.  I remember having a conversation with him the first time, asking why they got their setlists faxed to them.  He told me that the whole world worked that way now, that the huge companies that owned all the stations did market research to figure out the right songs to play to keep the audience happy and tuned in for the ads.  What!?!  Radio isn't about the ads, is it?

Yes.  I was a moron.  I have no clue which of the big companies owned Magic and Froggy back then, but their point of being in the business was not breaking new bands or the love of the tunes.  It was all about that cold, hard advertiser dollar.

Anyway, neither of those radio stations were interesting to me in the first place.  I listened to KNAC (alternative) and KLBJ (classic rock) mostly, with some time for K-98 (pop).  But then I found KGSR and couldn't change the dial.  It was a great station, nicknamed Radio Austin, and they played the kind of eclectic mix that made Austin so cool.  Some country/ Americana, some rock, some alternative, and they went back to old, deep cuts as well as played the new music.  It was great.  You could hear new Lucinda Williams next to old Elvis Costello next to Steve Earle next to Nickel Creek.  

However, not long after we moved back to Austin in 2005, I remember feeling like a lot of those good tunes were being replaced with top 40 tunes that didn't match the long-time ethos of the KGSR I had grown to love.  Smashmouth is one good example I recall - that "All Star" song.  This article pegs that change to around 2010/2011, which seems later than I thought, but likely right.  It looks like new-ish owner Emmis Communications (based in Indy, purchased the station in 2003) lost longtime heart-and-soul-of-the-station Jody Denberg, then they switched the frequency from 107.1 to 93.3, and then Nickelback replaced Nickel Creek in their playlists. All about those ratings, baby.  

When that happened, I quit listening to the radio, pretty much entirely.  I'd nerd out with some news on KUT, but otherwise I'd just use my CDs or iPod or phone to play music in the car that I actually wanted to hear.  Until the beginning of 2013 and the launch of KUTX.  

KUTX is the sister station of Austin's NPR station (KUT), and really separated itself from the rest of the dial, truly playing the eclectic mix that makes Austin different from the rest of the world.  Matt Reilly, an old friend of mine from many years ago, came to Austin from Philly to act as program director, which meant I heard about the station right away.  In addition to Matt, the station got longtime radio stalwarts in Austin like Paul Ray, John Aielli, the aforementioned Jody Denberg, and Susan Castle, along with other folks from KGSR and KUT who had worked to make Austin radio original in the past.  As just one great example, take the awesome Friday afternoon "Old School Dance Party," with host John E. Dee, which is this hilarious trip back into kick ass funk and soul music from 40 years ago. And so you end up with a musical sound that is unlike any other, but matches my omnivore musical tastes really well.  You can hear old school rap (but smart rap, not gangsta, like De La Soul or Tribe), Americana, country, rock, pop, punk, and local stuff you can't hear anywhere else.

Stream it here: http://kutx.org/wp-content/media_player_2/?kutx

So, I started doing an experiment a few months ago to listen to and track a group of five songs from each of the main radio stations I would listen to, so that I could show the raw power of KUTX.  Then it took me too long to write about this and I got a new phone and lost my notes, so I've had to do a new set of samples.  In running this little experiment, I found that there is another radio station in Austin doing a kick ass job of bringing real music back to the masses.  Experiment results to come in Part Two.

ACL 2016 Lineup Predictions: The Way Too Early Edition

If you want to go back through all of my ACL predictions for 2016, go to the ACL 2016 Tab up above for the collected links.

With Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Jazz Fest lineups releasing recently, I'm starting to get all psyched up about the ACL lineup to be announced for the 2016 Festival. I'm well aware that we are months away from an announcement (May 5 last year).  I also know that the Lollapalooza lineup will be a much better guide than the other festivals that have been announced so far, but I'm excited and this is my blog, dammit.  So here is my Way Too Early edition of predictions.

I have talked before about the attributes that I look at when thinking about who will come, but in general terms, here is what I think about:

• Gut Intuition.
• LiveNation Bands.
• Groups who are doing the festival circuit this year (i.e. Outkast in 2014).
• The bands who are playing Lollapalooza.
• In 2014, Eminem, Outkast, Calvin Harris, Skrillex, Foster the People, Avett Brothers, and Lorde overlapped between Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Fest, which is 7/9ths of the top three rows of the Lolla concert poster.
• This link was almost as strong in 2015, as ACL didn't get Paul McCartney, Metallica, or Sam Smith, but we still got Florence, the Weeknd, Bassnectar, Alt-J, Alabama Shakes, Of Monsters and Men, so that is 6 of 9 from the top of the poster. Although missing out on Metallica made it feel like we had a very different lineup.
• Buzz bands or those with new music out.
• Bands that C3 books/manages for their other venues.

Gut Intuition:

• Coldplay.  Big new album out.  Playing the Super Bowl.  Haven't come to ACL in years. Straddle the line between rock and EDM in a way that will be very appealing to the ACL crowd.  The only tour they have listed on their website goes through July and doesn't touch the U.S.  So it would be perfect in that they could play Lollapalooza (July 28-31) and ACL (Sept. 30 - Oct. 9).  I feel good about this prediction.
• Mumford & Sons.  I know I predicted them last year to no effect, but I still think they make sense for the ACL crowd.  They are playing Lolla Argentina, Lolla Chile, and Lolla Brazil in March, their tour swings through Texas in April but skips Austin and San Antonio, and like Coldplay, their tour ends in early July so that they would have the time to do both Lolla and ACL.  I feel less strong about this one, but it makes sense.
• Radiohead.  Radiohead will be touring in 2016, are playing some European festivals, and a "source" says they'll likely headline other music festivals this year.  I know that people predict Radiohead EVERY FREAKING YEAR and its always wrong, but this feels right?  Bring it on (just make sure to play the old music!)
• UPDATE - the day after I published this, I heard on the radio that Radiohead had been confirmed to headline Lollapalooza as well as play "other major North American festivals."  Damn, I'm good, yo.
• Dave Matthews Band.  Another band that is launching a big tour in 2016, with dates that end just before an ACL appearance could ostensibly happen.  However, they are booked on the Lolla dates, so maybe not?  Or maybe they are the difference maker between the two 'fests?  Another large band with a dedicated following who ought to sell tickets. Although there is no way all four of these bands would be named - there would be hashtags deriding that lineup in a heartbeat, even though I'd dig it. #ACLHeadlinersSoWhite

LiveNation Bands:

After Live Nation purchased a majority stake in C3, I brought up the idea that maybe we could get some of the Live Nation megastars as headliners for the Fest.  The LiveNation website lists the following as their "Stable of Global Icons": 

Alicia Keys; Jason Aldean; Journey; Kings of Leon; Lady Gaga; Madonna; Maroon 5; New Kids on The Block; Paul McCartney; Pharrell; Pitbull; U2.

So, with McCartney playing Lolla last year, there is some precedence for scoring one of these big time stars for the C3 managed Festivals.  Man, Madonna would be freaking so awesome.  I just doubt that most of these would even be up for coming - Keys, Aldean, NKOTB, Pharrell, Pitbull - those guys just don't match ACL at all.  But the others?

• Journey - already coming to Austin on May 18.  Doubt it.
• Kings of Leon - the only date on their website for future touring is the Firefly Music Festival (not C3) in Delaware in June.  According to Rolling Stone and NME, they are looking to release a new album in 2016.  They last played ACL Fest in 2013, so I could see a return if they end up doing their new album.  Maybe.
• Lady Gaga - I doubt it, just not a match I'd expect for the 'fest and she isn't on tour this year. Doubt it.
• Madonna - Dude.  Would be so freaking awesome.  She is currently on tour to support her 2015 album.  She hit San Antonio on Jan. 10 and Houston on Jan. 12, but no Dallas or Austin. Her tour breaks after March 20, so she has an opening that could fit in a bunch of the big festivals.  I still kind of doubt it, as she's never done the Fest circuit before, but it would be sweet!  Doubt it.
• Maroon 5 - I guess it could happen, although I wouldn't be that excited about it.  Their tour hits San Antonio on September 3, and has dates on Sept. 29, Oct. 1, Oct. 6, Oct. 8, and Oct. 9, so I kind of doubt they'd want to shoot down to Austin in between all of that to play one weekend of a festival where they wouldn't be a huge buzz. Doubt it.
• Paul McCartney.  I think it would be weird for him to play Lolla but not ACL and then come out to ACL the next year.  Doubt it.
• U2 - Oh man, come on.  Do this for me.  I would freaking LOVE to see U2 play ACL. Their website shows that the tour ended at the end of 2015, but at least one article references that they might be back to the US for more dates in 2016, there are no details.  I still doubt they'd sign up for a festival, they can sell out every arena on the planet in 30 seconds on their own. But I would freaking love it!  Doubt it.

Groups Making the Festival Rounds this Year:

Now, I know I could go all super deep on lineup cards and dig out who is playing the small time festivals around, but I think ACL is up in the upper echelon of festivals in America.  I think ACL is at the level of the other big three: Lollapalooza, Coachella, Bonnaroo, and maybe Governor's Ball.

• Florence and the Machine.  I doubt they'd come back, but they are playing Shaky Knees, Hangout, all of the Lolla South Americas (Chile, Argentina, and Brazil).  I'd dig seeing them again though!  Same with bands like Alabama Shakes, Beck, Walk the Moon, Leon Bridges, Run the Jewels, etc - they are playing fests in 2016 but I doubt they'd be back to ACL so soon.
• Ellie Goulding.  Count this one.  Playing Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Hangout.  New album and a lot of buzz.
• LCD Soundsystem.  I guess his "retirement" couldn't last more than a year or three. Playing Coachella and Bonnaroo, so it makes sense they'd keep doing the 'Fest rounds in October unless he needs to retire again before then.
• Jack U - The Skrillex/Diplo collaboration, playing the Lolla South America shows and Coachella.  Makes sense for one of the EDM headliners ACL apparently is required to bring every year.
• Calvin Harris - playing Coachella and Hangout.  Again, ACL apparently needs to have multiple big EDM people, even if I don't like it.  So long as they put this guy opposite Springsteen, then I'll allow it.
• My Morning Jacket.  Playing Shaky Knees, Jazz Fest, and Coachella.  New-ish album.
• J. Cole - playing Bonnaroo and Jazz Fest.  New-ish album and buzzy.
• Snoop Dogg - playing Coachella, Jazz Fest, and the Lolla SA shows.
• Death Cab for Cutie - Governor's Ball, Bonnaroo.
• Courtney Barnett - Hangout, Coachella, Governor's Ball, and should have come to ACL last year.  This makes sense.
• Jason Isbell - Hangout, Bonnaroo, getting a lot of buzz right now.
• Silversun Pickups - Coachella, Hangout, Shaky Knees.  Count this one.
• Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - Cochella, Bonnaroo, Jazz Fest.  Count this one.
• Chris Stapleton - Coachella, Bonnaroo, major buzz.

The Bands Playing Lollapalooza This Year.  No schedule yet, so to be determined.  Not sure about the strength of the link, but this will definitely reflect some of the likely candidates for ACL Fest when it does come out.

Buzz Bands and Bands Putting Out New Music in 2016:

• Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.  Playing other big fests, huge buzz, lock this prediction in.
• PWR BTTM.  I just heard them for the first time and dig what is going on.
• Sunflower Bean.  Has that trippy psych rock sound they'll want to support at ACL.
• Eagles of Death Metal.  Playing some other fests and (for all the wrong reasons) they have some press right now.
• Hinds.  The buzz band right now, makes total sense to me, even if I'm not personally feeling it.
• Chris Stapleton.  Piles of hype, up for Grammy.
• Jason Isbell.
• Sam Hunt.  Also up for a Grammy, and the ACL folks have liked bringing in hot country stars recently.
• Pusha T.  New album and some hype.  I'm looking forward to watching this.

Bands Playing C3 Venues This Year:
I ran though the lineups for Stubb's, Emos, the Parish, Austin Music Hall, Southside Ballroom in Dallas, and some others that C3 manages and came up with a long list of bands (Best Coast, Wavves, OAR, Dropkick Murphys, Elle King, Logic, Big Head Todd, They Might Be Giants, Yonder String Mountain Band, Dr. Dog, M83, Umphrey's McGee, Blue October, Lauryn Hill, Alessia Cara, G-Eazy, Lissie, Kid Cudi, Chainsmokers).  Of those, I think the following have a good chance, in order of likeliness:

• Logic - kick ass new album out, and his world tour ends in May, so he'd have time for both Lolla and ACL.
• M83 - playing Governor's Ball, Firefly, Sasquatch, and some other weird sounding festivals I have never heard of.  Has a month gap in his tour schedule when Lolla would happen and is done with the tour in mid-August to make time to ACL.  I think this one is likely.
• Elle King - played Lolla last year, doing Jazz Fest and a few smaller 'fests this year.
• Best Coast - I like them a lot and they are playing a few festivals, including Shaky Knees.
• Chainsmokers, Alessia Cara, and Lissie all seem like ones that will make the small type portion of the poster.  In fact, many of these wouldn't surprise me, Dr. Dog, Lauryn Hill, Yonder Mountain, Blue October...  I'd only be surprised if G-Eazy came back so soon.
• I'd love to see They Might Be Giants or Big Head Todd and the Monsters, but their tour schedules don't give any indication (over in April and June, respectively).

I wanted to check the roster of artists that C3 actually manages, but it looks like they keep it locked up and I'm not so sure about trying to request it from them.  But you'd think they would run their own folks out with frequency.

Wishful thinking:

• Springsteen
• Pearl Jam (I know they were just here, but I'd still do it again)
• Paul Simon (if he could play Graceland and Rhythm front to back, I might just die happy)
• Other Jazz Fest names like Stevie Wonder, Chilis, Van Morrison
• Green Day
• Kanye West - playing Governor's Ball and who knows?  We need a big rap name.  
• Maybe Ice Cube (Coachella) or an NWA reunion?
• The Wu Tang Clan came for FFF, so I doubt it, but who knows?
• Metallica!!!
• Dead & Co. would be sweet.  Maybe John Mayer could just come with them and play his own solo show too?

Bonnaroo 2016 Lineup Announced

I've had a dream about doing Bonnaroo for a while. I have a friend who went recently and got one of the fancy pants campers to stay in while on the grounds, and it sounded pretty perfect.  The full-on camping thing, not so sure about that.  I'm old, man, and jamming out all day and then sleeping on the ground might just kill me off.

But anyway, Bonnaroo fired out their lineup announcement and the top of the bill is pretty tight. Pearl Jam!  I'd go see them right now again!  Dead & Company, LCD Soundsystem, J. Cole, Ellie Goulding, Macklemore, Tame Impala, Death Cab for Cutie, M83, Haim, and Halsey round out the top three rows of the poster.  They've also got Chvrches, Chris Stapleton, Leon Bridges, Big Grams, Band of Horses, Father John Misty, Nathaniel Rateliff, Lord Huron.  And Third Eye Blind!  Who knew they still existed!

I'm not a monster Deadhead guy, but I have to say that I was a little bummed when hearing all about the final farewell concerts in Chicago this summer.  I dig me some Dead, so having them show up in Austin would be freaking excellent fun.

Jazz Fest 2016

I mean, have you seen this lineup yet?  Holy hot damn!


Those top two lines are freaking silly.  This feels like an April Fools joke.  Stevie Wonder and Pearl Jam!!!  Paul freaking Simon at #6!  Beck!  Van Morrison!  My Morning Jacket shoved down to the 4th line!  Nathaniel Rateliff, Punch Brothers, Mystikal, and the Revivalists shoved down to the small type at the bottom!

Of course, you should know that Jazz Fest does their festival over two weekends with different lineups for both weekends, so you aren't going to get all of this with a one weekend ticket.  Imagine if you did!  But still, if you choose the first weekend, you would get to see Pearl Jam, Van Morrison, Nathaniel Rateliff, the Chili Peppers, Better than Ezra, Taj Mahal, and about a million other awesome things, while a second weekend ticket would net you PAUL SIMON, My Morning Jacket, Lauren Hill, The Revivalists, Stevie Wonder, Snoop Dogg, Beck, Buddy freaking Guy, Dr. John, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Lone Bellow, Rebirth Brass Band, Neil Young, Bonnie Raitt, Mavis Staples, the Isley Brothers, Punch Brothers, and a million other things.  That second weekend is ridiculous.

The fest happens in late April.  I need to start buttering up the wife to see if she wants to go!  Single day passes are on sale for $60 a piece right now and only $65 up until the time of the fest.  That ain't bad.

Quick Hits, Vol. 70 (David Bowie, Hinds, Tom Petty, Ali Holder)

Hot Topic: The awesomeness of these earbuds.  I have no clue if these things would work, but if they can up the battery life and then these would work as advertised, it would be freaking sweet for shows. The coolest feature, and I can't tell if that is part of this, would be if the buds could be programmed to only let the music and your friends' voices through.  Block out the dude behind you drunkenly yelling the lyrics to "Learn to Fly."  Just keep the music clear in your ears, at a good volume, and if your friend turns over to you to say something about Grohl's sweet Throne, you hear that clearly as well. Sounds cool.  Next gen idea: have these that also include a communicator to talk to friends at a festival without needing cell signal.

David Bowie - Blackstar.  Well, now, of course, I feel like a big fat asshole unless I gush all over how great and challenging and artful this album is, how it reflect the chameleonic nature of David Bowie as he modified the past and future of pop music to fit his ever-astounding milieu of groundbreaking aural explorations.  My Facebook feed has been blowing up with these kinds of things.  Either that, or something like "I've been a huge fan all my life and Hunky Dory was the album that formed me and my dad died singing Suffragette City."  Look, I like David Bowie's hits - he has some great old fun rock and roll songs, including Surfer Jet City (as I used to sing it when I was 8 - an 8 year old who LOVED the WHAM BAM THANKYOUMAAM!! portion of that song). All of that being said, this album doesn't do much for me.  On one hand, it is amazing that he was in the midst of an 18 month long battle with cancer while making this, and yet his voice sounds great. On the other hand, the story behind the music doesn't make it any more palatable for me. Well, now that I'm officially a jerk, here is "Lazarus."

Hinds - Leave Me Alone.  Current buzz band in the indie rock/garage rock scene, out of Spain.  I fully expect that they will be booked to play ACL this year.  This one starts off pretty good, with some loose, jangly guitar rock action, but by the time I re-started the disc for a second listen, I realized that I don't enjoy this at all.  I'm sure I'll regret this review, as they'll be the next big thing and I'll be won over by their charming live show, but I can't get there right now.  The tunes are fine, but the vocals are too reverbed/fuzzed out/annoying and it becomes a big drag over time.  Here is the most-listened-to track on Spotify, called "San Diego."  About 330k listens.

Has that garage/Strokes-ian vibe, but it just grates on my nerves.  I've ground out three listens to the album and just have to move on.  Let me know when the rest of the world officially determines I'm an idiot for not being on board with these ladies.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Nobody's Children.  Hell yeah, new Tom Petty.  One of my sisters is a massive Tom Petty fan (and just yesterday, when asked what her favorite album of all time is, she went with Damn the Torpedos, although she waffled a little bit on that with some love for the Cure and the Boss) and so I have enjoyed a lot of TP over time.  I think my first album of his was Full Moon Fever (which, yes, I know was him gone solo, not with the Heartbreakers), and that album was awesome.  I remember thinking it was soooooo cool in the middle when he told people to flip over the tape or LP.  But that album has so many good songs on it.  I have a great memory of listening to it on the roof of a house boat on Lake Powell when I was a kid while looking up at the stars and cliffs.

Since then, Into the Great Wide Open, Wildflowers, She's the One, and portions of Echo have been excellent.  I've actually seen several different artists mention recently how they think that Wildflowers is one of their favorite albums of all time.  I have to agree that it is great - the title track is a beaut, and the rest of the album is similarly fine.  I bought that album right after I started college and have good memories studying to it or driving around in my car with friends while it played along. Anyway, enough history lesson.

Interestingly, no one is listening to this album.  It was released just over a month ago, and the top song has 36k spins, with others topping out under 20k.  His hits all peg out in the millions, but this one is a little bit unnoticed.  Looks like there was also another companion disc that came out at the same time.  I should check it out too.  The sound on here is classic Petty, with tracks that sound like the Wilbury's ("Travelin'"), Buddy Holly and Yoakum-ish country ("Baby, Let's Play House"), bare assed rockers ("Come on Down to My House"), and a kind of classic sounding jam ("Up in MIssissippi Tonight") plus a Lenny sighting, which is always welcome for me.  Not much on the lovely acoustic tracks, he went pretty well solidly electric on this one, but maybe "Waiting for Tonight" is that track.  TP's Vevo channel on YouTube apparently hasn't uploaded a video in 6 years, so I guess we shouldn't expect an official music video here.  But here is the opening track, the most listened-to with 36k spins.  "Got My Mind Made Up"

I know that I sometimes rail on artists for staying in a rut and making music that you can't tell apart (looking at you, Muse), but there is something nice about the Petty-ness of that track.  Classic rock with his smoky growl of a voice.  This album is worthy of keeping around to stick in the rotation.

Ali Holder - From My Veins Will Fall.  A friend of mine has been playing guitar with this gal, so I queued up the album to give it a check.  Her voice is freaking gorgeous.  I know that no one has heard of her yet, as she has 137 total monthly listens on Spotify, but regardless, I think her music is damn pretty.  The title track is so lovely, but I think I'll show you "Don't Show the Devil" instead.

That's my boy Jeremy there on the guitar.  I dig it, just slinky and sultry.  Gimme some more of that action.  All of 59 views for that video though, so once again she has yet to find a wide audience. Maybe she'll get to do ACL this year and blow up.  She's be a good selection for the local tunes to play early on a day.

R.I.P. Glenn Frey

Dadgum, man.  I know that people talk about the start of a new year being a time for people to die, as those who have been hanging on to make it one more year let go (or whatever). But this last month has been brutal.  Scott Weiland.  David Bowie.  Natalie Cole.  Lemmy. Some dude that was married to Celine Dion.  Hans Gruber/Professor Snape.  And now add Glenn Frey to the list.  This sucks.

The Eagles are a funny band to love, in that I felt like they were pretty universally loved when I was a kid.  I definitely owned the two greatest hits discs and wore those suckers out. I don't recall anyone disliking them back in the day, but I still jammed them even up into high school.  Then I blame the Big Lebowski for a sharp decline in the universal love.  Every hip kid who memorized all of the lines from that flick kept quoting the words that got The Dude ejected from that taxi.

Funny scene.  But screw that.  If you really go dig back into their music, they have some freaking great tunes.  My favorite is easy.  "Seven Bridges Road" is the good stuff.  My cooler-than-he-should-have-been church choir director in high school put me in as part of a a capella quartet that sang that tune and I haven't been able to shake it since.  

Freaking gorgeous.  You can trace a bunch of my pleasure center tunes from that exact track - Fleet Foxes, Nickel Creek, pretty much anything acoustic and with tight harmonies. That song is fantastic.

I fully get that some of the Eagles' songs aren't something I want to go back to (looking at you, "Sad Cafe" and "The Best of My Love"), but their combination of rock and country back in the day was mostly kick ass.  So long as they stayed away from seventies schmaltz, then they could jam.  I still love "Take It Easy" and its great storytelling, "Desperado," (which I used as my audition song for Little Shop of Horrors in college.  Try to unpack that one for me) or "Peaceful Easy Feeling."  And the rest of the world agreed - Wikipedia says "They are the fifth-highest-selling music act and the highest-selling American band in U.S. history."

So, I know that everyone is following up their Bowie sadness with a mild and tempered dose of being bummed about Glenn Frey, but I choose this moment to declare my support for the Eagles.  Screw you, The Dude. R.I.P. "Smuggler's Blues."

Quick Hits, Vol. 69 (Redman, Beach Slang, Billy Gibbons, Pusha T)

Right behind the Bad Lip Reading series, I think these things are funny as well.

The old ones with Brian Williams doing old school rap like Gin n Juice were also hilarious...

Redman - Mudface.  I have to admit to you that I thought Redman was involved with Wu Tang. Sadly, untrue, and I get a corner cut off of my Rap Knowledge Card.  He did have some collaborations with Method Man, which I am going to claim was the source for that misinformation. Anyway, somehow, Redman is still out there making mediocre rap albums with semi-funny bits and some truly unfunny portions.  I wanted to like "Beastin' (MCA)" because of the whole Beastie Boys-biting sample, but the lyrics are complete garbage.  I was hoping for a tribute to MCA, but he never even mention the Beasties, and actually mentions resurrecting Guru.  WTF, man?  What are you doing?  No need to listen to this album.

Beach Slang - The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us.  Holy Paul Westerberg, Batman!  A friend offered me his tickets to go see these guys when they came through Austin a few months ago, and I couldn't go, but I added them to the Q to see what it was all about.  I mean, seriously, if I told you this was a Replacements album or a Westerberg solo album and then played it for you, I can almost guarantee you would buy it. Serious homage going on here.  The most popular track is called "Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas."

The tunes also remind me of my 2014 ACL darling Gaslight Anthem, those hard charging, fist pumping, heart on the sleeve anthems that are wonderfully earnest and middle American.  Pretty good album and I'll keep it around to check out some more.

Billy Gibbons and the BFG's - Perfectamundo.  For those of you not steeped in a childhood of ZZ Top singles played on KLBJ-FM, this is the lead vocalist of ZZ Top.  You know, the one with the huge beard.  No, the other one with the huge beard, yeah, that one. And by the way, BFG are his initials.  Woah!  I want to say this is awesome, just because I kind of dig the guy and I like the combination of Tex/Mex and guitar fireworks that is going on here, but there is enough weird AutoTune, rap, and other offputting things going on in here that I can't fully support what is going on.  "Hombre Sin Nombre" seriously combines all, including a funky drummer beat, with the worst results.  I'd like to give my favorite song nod to "Piedras Negras," fully because I've been there many times to cross the border and so it has a special place in my heart, but I don't speak Spanish, and thus have no clue what is going on in the song.  Here is the most listened-to track on Spotify, "Got Love if You Want It."

Seriously, quit with the AutoTune.  Did something happen to his voice?  His classic ZZ songs have a great voice in them.  Why mess with it?  Best thing about the album?  The title.  Otherwise, pass.

Pusha T - King Push - Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude.  I have a soft spot for King Push from his Clipse days.  Hell Hath No Fury was so excellent.  And this one has some of that same feel - tense, spare beats and growling flow of clever and interesting references. He samples Biggie on the second track, "Untouchable," which is cool.  That is his most listened-to track so far on Spotify, with just over 3 million spins.  "M.P.A." features A$AP Rocky and Kanye, and he's also got guest spots from Beanie Sigel and Jill Scott.  It's that Jill Scott one, which closes out the album, that I dig the most.

Those doves are mesmerizing.  Dark, cynical take on the race problems that are still going on here. Two lines: "I seen one-time turn sunshine into Freddy Gray," and "Yeah, we all see it, but cellphones ain't enough proof."  Solid track and overall good album.  Give it a chance.

Predicting the "Next Big Thing" in Music

Flipboard led me to an interesting article over the holiday, written up in the Guardian, all about why it is so hard to predict what will be the next big thing for 2016.  Combined with an interesting article I read in Rolling Stone the other day about how big data (and especially Shazam) is defining the next hits we will be hearing, I've been mulling this over for a few days.  I need to put down my thoughts about super early predictions of who may come to ACL in 2016, and both of these articles tied right into that plan.  How are we all being led to our next musical discovery?

The Guardian article predicts that Jack Garratt, a name I have literally never heard in my life, is going to be the next big thing.  This is according to the "most famous musically predictive institutions," the BBC, the Brits, and MTV.  From looking at the BBC's list, it sounds like they use a panel of DJs, critics, and writers to make their predictions (apparently I need to find the Blossoms and J Hus) and zeroed in on Jack Garratt as their overall winner.  I like the approach that leans on a panel of experts, but that can also lead to a lot of pompous fartsniffing.  In past years, the BBC panel picked Years and Years, Adele, Sam Smith, and Haim, so they appear to have a good track record.  The Brits picked Garratt as their critic's choice for the year.  Who knows how MTV UK made their weird list.  But the overall gist of the Guardian article (and I hear it while I am currently listening to Jack Garratt's singles on Spotify) is that 2016 looks to be unoriginal and very like 2015.  I'll talk more about Garratt at another time, but so far I'm hearing some Ed Sheeran style earnest folk electro pop.  Here is the top song on Spotify, called "Worry."

Now, as for the Shazam/data article in RS, I'm a little more intrigued about what this means for the world.  At first, I agree that the labels and radio stations can get some good information about real time listener interests from what people are Shazam'ing.  I know I have definitely done that - hear a song on the radio, Shazam it, go "oh, Bobby Shmurda, never heard of that," and then promptly forget about looking that up until weeks later.  But it really should show real time interest in music that can be tied to different geographic markets and other demographic data.  Smart.  However, the manager who claims that you can't fake the Shazam data is being naive.  Of course you can.  Even aside from something nefarious like hacking the Shazam system or outright lying about Shazam numbers, a label could easily follow the same model as Facebook like-mills and pay people to Shazam their song.  

Another problem with that system of measuring music popularity is that it only accounts for new artists.  If Pearl Jam puts out a new song, only some moron 12 year old is going to have to Shazam that song to figure out that it is PJ.  The rest of the world is going to know Eddie Vedder's voice and so Shazam won't note their interest in the new tune.  Although I may be wrong, because Adele and Beiber take up three spots in the top ten on Shazam's chart right now, so the established people may still get some queries.  

A quick aside, about the number one song on the Shazam "New and Future Hits" list, is that SCREW YOU FABOLOUS, THAT IS LL COOL J'S FREAKING SONG!  It's one thing to borrow a smidge or a line or a beat from an old song, but to straight up bite the whole thing? You suck Fabolous!  The only reason people are Shazam'ing your song is to figure out who the asshole is that is riding LL's jock!

<deep breath>

The other thing in that article that piqued my interest was the last paragraph, where the writer discusses a theory that this data-driven hit-picking leans toward EDM-driven pop, international sound.  Unfortunately, I bet that is a true theory.  Just like my beloved ACL, we've gone from the sound of Austin to the sound of Ibiza in a shockingly short time period, with Wilco replaced by Deadmau5 and more computers and effects pedals on stage than guitar pickers.  I get that I don't represent the entirety of musical taste out there, but at the same time, the homogenization of the musical spectrum hurts the cachet of what makes ACL its own amazing thing.

Now that I know Shazam has a website full of data, I'm going to play with this thing a little more and see how predictive it can be.  Maybe it can help lead me to a better return rate on my ACL predictions.  Although likely not, as the categories if you want to drill down on genres are super strange, and are as follows:

• Country
• Dance
• Dance - Italy
• Dance - UK
• Hip-Hop
• Hip-Hop - France
• Latin - USA
• Pop

Huh.  No rock.  No chamber pop.  No indie.  No alternative rock.  No math rock.  So a bunch of the usual suspects for ACL won't even be apparent from their ratings.  This gets more interesting the deeper I dig!  More to come, I'm sure.

Classics: Helmet - Meantime

In 1992, I was about midway through high school, and in the post-Nevermind world I had realized that I actually enjoyed hard rock quite a bit.  In junior high, I probably would have avoided Helmet like the plague, but Zeppelin led to Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam, which led to Jane's Addiction and Primus, which led to Fugazi and Red Hot Chili Peppers, which led to Rollins Band and Helmet.  And I've never put this album down since.

Their sound is a little evocative of Tool, in that they use odd time signatures with a really solid rhythm and hard groove.  Apparently, the lead singer, Page Hamilton, had intended to study jazz, but changed up his game once he found harder inspiration.  This was their second album, and the first, Strap it On, is also good, but this one has zero filler.  Every song is great.

The big hit off of the album was "Unsung,"

That video is so 90's and awesome.  Old school train footage!  Abandoned warehouse/industrial zone! Overexposed lighting and spotlights that are unsteady in their focus!  The track kicks off with the deep bass chug, develops a feedback-y crunch, and then jams along until the break happens at about 2:30.  That is the money shot of the song, when I used to get all sorts of thrashy in my car while listening to this album.  That is a stone cold hard groove.  If you don't air-drum the crap out of that section of the song, then you aren't livin'.

"Turned Out," "FBLA II," and "You Borrowed" were also big for me, but the other one that grinds out the feeling of the album is "In the Meantime," which opens the album with tight crunch and is great to growl along to while psyching yourself up to go be tough.  

I might have used this album (along with Pantera and Smashing Pumpkins) to get psyched up for lacrosse games in high school.  I was so tough, all 160 pounds and big glasses held on with croakies, grumbling about "high times, hard time, downtown Julie Brown" under my breath. In fact the whole album is pretty good getting psyched up, especially the start, bashing from "Meantime" to "Iron Head" to "Give It" to "Unsung."  And speaking of that nonsensical lyric above, from "Turned Out," the bass-driven groove in the center of that song is tight as hell as well, stops on a dime, and then kicks in all over again.  Again, air drumming is required here.

I fully understand this kind of hard music isn't for everyone, but I still love this album to this day, and if you're ever in a mood to want to go berserker with your tunes, this is a great start.   

Quick Hits, Vol. 67 (Logic, BORNS, The Darkness, Rick Ross)

Conan, Cube, and Kevin.  Good times.

Logic - Under Pressure.  Digging this album.  Never heard of this guy in my life, but a friend came in here the other day telling me to listen to "Alright" from this 2014 album, and it was sweet enough to need to go find out what else was going on.  "Alright " is the, by leaps and bounds, hit from this album with over 14 million Spotify streams versus about 9 million for the next closest and about 4 million for the majority of the album.

He sounds a considerable amount like Big Sean, his guest on that track, but I don't even think that is the best track on the album.  I dig on "Soul Food," "Under Pressure" (with a sweet Eazy homage), "Bounce," and especially "Gang Related."

Something called "Hard Knock TV" does an interview with Logic about this song, which I found while trying to see who had made that sweet beat.  Because that beat is on point.  Interesting interview about how he came up with the lyrics and figured it all out.  Although its kind of funny to watch the other guy sitting at the console (I assume that is 6ix) just having to sit there while Logic talks and raps for 10 minutes.

I also dig the Tribe Called Quest homage on the album of having the computerized lady voice provide information about the album throughout.  The strangest of those is the one that comes in after "Buried Alive" that says they had Outkast, Tribe, The Chili Peppers and Quentin Tarantino movies on rotation during the making of this album.  Which is weird, but OK.  Good album.  You should try it out.

BORNS - Dopamine.  So, I remember reviewing this dude for ACL, and I was just not on board at all.  But now, after giving this new album a few shots recently, I kind of dig it.  More psych than the electro than I remembered from last time, but then again, he only had a four song EP available back then.  "Electric Love" is still the big hit for him (over 43 million listens), and I like it too.  But I'm digging on "10,000 Emerald Pools" a little more.

Funny that I didn't like this in the first place, it isn't terribly far off from the Tame Impala or Unknown Mortal Orchestra albums that I enjoyed.  That track is smooth.  All of that being said, I doubt I'll keep this disc around much longer.

The Darkness - Last of Our Kind.  Yikes.  This band went from a guilty pleasure to a coaster manufacturer pretty quick.  2003's Permission to Land, the one with that one song you remember from these guys, was fun as hell.  I used to blare it in my duplex in Waco at high volume while the rest of the world was off at work, performing awesome jump-kicks and couch rolls while the guitars wailed.  Other funny story about that album - I own it, and I guess I must have loaded it onto an old iPad at the house.  One of the kids found it, zoomed in on the bare butt that is on the cover, and then saved that image.  My wife found it and texted it to me, like "What in the world are you looking at and saving?"  It's not mine, baby!  Honestly!  Yeah, baby!  Anyway, this album blows.

Rick Ross - Black Market.  So, do you think Rick Ross just finally realized that he never had to do a damn thing again and his albums would apparently still sell?  I can't tell any difference between these songs or the ones on Hood Billionaire, Mastermind, or God Forgives, I Don't.  So boring.  "Hustlin'" or "BMF" were jams, even "The Devil is a Lie" was alright, but this stuff is just blah blah blah with John Legend, Ceelo, or Chris Brown crooning over the hook.  Maybe the Nas collaboration, "One of Us" is good.  Here is one video for a track that will give you a taste, this is "Crocodile Python."

Yep, you kill people and have loads of money and used to sell drugs and nobody is as good as you and everyone looks up to you and wants what you have. YAAAWWWWNNNNN.  Actually, maybe people are starting to figure this out - here are the sales numbers for his last five albums (from Wikipedia):

• Teflon Don - 724,000
• God Forgives - 565,000
• Mastermind - 397,000
• Hood Billionaire - 190,000
• Black Market - 34,000 in first week (I can't find updated numbers today)

So maybe people have finally figured out that this is boring drivel.  I definitely won't be saving this album for later.

Quick Hits, Vol. 68 (G-Eazy, And So I Watch You From Afar, Don Henley, Sam Hunt)

The late, great David Bowie.  I know the entire planet is, right at this very minute, making sure they quickly publish their heartfelt tributes to Bowie and going on and on about the out-sized influence he had on the world. I have no reason to contribute much to that, as every major media outlet and everyone in my social media feeds are filling the ether with their bloviations right now.  I like his old rock and roll stuff ("Queen Bitch," "Life on Mars," "Suffragette City," or "Space Oddity") well enough, but likely first realized who he was because of Vanilla Ice, and then got comfortable with him and learned to like his music because of Wes Anderson.  For whatever reason, the only album of his that I own in 1977's Low.  Which is weird, as it doesn't have a single hit anywhere on it.  I'll have to check out the new album and see what I think, but more likely I should just go back to the classic from the 70's and enjoy those again.  Rest in Peace.

G-Eazy - When It's Dark Out.  I listened to G-Eazy for a while last year while checking in on the Lolla poster and then while reviewing ACL bands, but this album came out in December and I hadn't gotten around to it until now.  Like his last album, this one is uneven. I vastly prefer the true rap tunes, like the highly excellent brag-fest of "Random."

That beat.  Strong.  Lyrically, its fine, just more boring tales of how he's better than you.  But the flow of it is tight for sure.  I've listened to this track a lot.  He's got a Big Sean track and a Too Short track, and then a bunch of sing-song R&B tracks, like the most popular track on this album, "Me, Myself, & I," featuring someone named Bebe Rexha.  I have no clue how this track has 48 million listens. I do also like "Calm Down," but the rest of the album can probably go on.

And So I Watch You From Afar - Heirs.  I'm not entirely sure what to call this kind of music other than cool.  Kind of rock and roll, kind of punk, kind of happy-instrumental-singalong-for-chugging-beer-and-watching-soccer ("Wasps"), but all of it is solid.  Irish dudes, but I would have pegged this as Californian before reading up on them.  No tracks from this album break the 100k mark except for "Run Home," so I am assuming that is the top track from the album.

Although it is also the opener to the album, so this may be one of those situations where people check out the first tune and then move on.  I don't know.  It also could have been featured in an Irish soccer promo or something.  Either way, this is a pretty cool song, spiraling up and tightly wound, until the quiet break in the center.  Much of this album has that spiraling, repetitive, technical sound.  Not something I am used to, but I am enjoying it quite a bit.

Don Henley - Cass County.  I've been putting off a review of this album for months.  It isn't bad, but I just can't get my head around whether I like it or hate it.  I like Don Henley well enough, and this sounds lovely at times, but I don't think I care for this foray into the country genre with help from Mick Jagger, Haggard, Dolly, etc.  If you want to hear Henley go back to his Texas roots, then by all means, fire this up.  Otherwise, here is a taste to whet your appetite (and save your time).  The Dolly Parton-assisted "When I Stop Dreaming."

Sam Hunt - Montevallo.  This one popped onto my radar because Hunt is nominated for Best New Artist with the Grammy Awards.  This album is some high-octane bro "country" action.  The first song is this hilariously tender jam for the stranger lady he spotted across a bar all about the ways he is going to be so good to her without being obnoxious.  "I don't want to make you love me, I just want to take your time.  I don't want to blow your phone up, I just want to blow your mind."

And then that video takes it in a different direction, with Hunt saving a lady from getting her ass beat by an extra from Justified while she tries to run for her life with their baby.  Yikes. That does not match up to the song, at all.  And weird that Cletus just lets him walk away at the end.  The rest of the album is similarly slick "country" music (if you consider throwing a banjo lick over a drum machine track to be allowed to be considered country) with generically bad lyrics ("killin' in yo Levi's," or "if you wanna be a homebody, we gonna have a houseparty").  I can't support what is going on here.

Best Albums of 2015: Spin

This review is a little late - I got distracted by non-Internet pursuits for a bit over the holidays. Hope you did too.  Now I feel like I have a bunch to write about, which is fun, but a little stressful.  Anyway, Spin.

When I was in high school, I decided to broaden my music magazine readership and added a Spin subscription to the mix.  It definitely has a different tone than Rolling Stone, a harder, darker musical bent, and they don't mess around with politics or celebrity trash nearly as much.  I know it sells, but I really wish that RS would quit the paparazzi pictures section of the magazine.  Anyway, after a while I let that Spin subscription lapse and I never have picked it back up again, but I read their online offerings with some regularity.  Edgier than RS, but not so obnoxious as Pitchfork.

Anyway, they released a top 50 albums list, and here are their top ten.

1.  Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly  Shocker!  I am SHOCKED, I tell you.  In a state of shockingment.

2.  Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit  Agreed. This one is great and should be on all lists.

3.  Jamie xx - In Colour.  Ugh.  Not a good album.  I reviewed it a while back, and just tried again, and I just can't get there.

4.  Tame Impala - Currents.  Hell yes.  I went out and bought this album the other day to indicate the strength of my vote for this album with my pocketbook and hard earned dinero. While driving out to West Texas for NYE, where Spotify does not roam, I jammed this on my headphones a few more times.  I've come to love "Disciples" in a hard way.

5.  Vince Staples - Summertime '06.  This one kind of fell off of my radar after listening to it before Staples came to ACL this year.  I liked it back then, and after listening three more times today, I like it even more.  I'm going to put this one back into rotation and keep it going.  Norf Norf!

6.  Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp.  I liked it well enough when I jammed it early in the year, and then reviewed her more fully when she was named to play ACL.  But then I never took the time to go see her set at ACL, so I'm not entirely dedicated to the cause.

7.  Deerhunter - Fading Frontier.  These guys had better be careful that they don't get mistaken for people who actually hunt.  I remember this band from the time that Grantland named them the greatest rock band in America for a period of three years.  Despite my reluctance to accept them as a viable candidate for the best band in America, I do actually like this album.  Here is the most popular song (currently) on Spotify, "Living My Life."

I had planned to give this album one shot and then write it up, but I've now just had it on repeat all day and I can't quit.  Kind of psych rock, kind of Wilco-ish-alt-country-rock, kind of Sgt. Pepper.  You should go check this one out.

8.  Kacey Musgraves - Pageant Material.  Word.  This one is great.  If you didn't go listen to "Are You Sure" after I pimped it, then you should do it now.  I also purchased this disc the other day to support my love for this album more directly and have the ability to jam it in my old ass car. Surprising choice for Spin, but I'll take it.

9.  Shamir - Ratchet.  Hewing to the proper formula for a music blogger's top ten list, here is your left field selection, included below the fold but high enough to try to gain some street cred.  My recollection of this album is that it sucked on toast, but looking back at my review, I see that I enjoyed one tune at least.  Just went back to it and can't say it got any better over time.

10.  Alex G - Beach Music.  I had listened to some other Alex G album in the past, but had never given this one a shot until now.  Has that same DIY vibe as his last album, heavy on the alt-90's Sonic Youth or Pavement and the chilled Kurt Vile vibes.  Here is the most popular track, called "Bug."

Man, I was just about to say that I didn't care to ever hear this album again, but then that song drew me back in again.  Still likely not going to listen to it after today, but kind of catchy.

Aaaaand, only two albums overlapping with RS.  Spin is too REAL, too GRITTY, too HARD to give Adele, D'Angelo, or The Weeknd a slot even in their top 50!  That is actually kind of interesting, that they don't even list those three in their top 50.