Predicting ACL 2017: Bands Playing Lollapalooza (Chicago)

As I worked on this post, I just realized how excited I am about it.  I love this post.  I love the guessing game and murder mystery sleuthing that comes with trying to figure things out. Not as much as the Fest or anything, but this is a fun game for me.

As usual, in my opinion, the Lolla lineup is always the closest indicator of who is coming to ACL in any given year.  Both Festivals are booked by C3, and there is always a relationship between the two lineups.  In some years, that relationship is conjoined-twin-level close between the headliner-type acts in the two shows.  But in some recent years, it isn't that close.

The closest were 2012 and 2014, with 7/9 matching at the top of the bills:

2012: Red Hot Chili Peppers yes Black Keys yes Black Sabbath no Jack White yes Florence & the Machine yes At the Drive In no Bassnectar yes Avicii yes The Shins yes 2014: Eminem yes Outkast yes Kings of Leon no Arctic Monkeys no Skrillex yes Calvin Harris yes Lorde yes The Avett Brothers yes Foster the People yes

Third place was 2015, a 6 of 9 year, where we missed out on McCartney, Metallica, and Sam Smith.

Paul McCartney	no
Metallica	no
Florence & the Machine	yes
Sam Smith	no
Bassnectar	yes
The Weeknd	yes
Alt-J	yes
Alabama Shakes	yes
Of Monsters and Men	yes

Then 2011 and 2013 show that maybe the relationship isn't as strong as I thought, with only 4 out of 9 matches:

2011:

Eminem	no
Foo Fighters	no
Coldplay	yes
Muse	no
My Morning Jacket	yes
Deadmau5	no
A Perfect Circle	no
Cee Lo Green	yes
Damian Marley & Nas	yes

2013:

The Cure	yes
Mumford & Sons	no
the Killers	no
Nine Inch Nails	no
Phoenix	yes
the Postal Service	no
Vampire Weekend	yes
New Order	no
Queens of the Stone Age	yes

2016 was a little stronger than those two years, but it is kind of an apples to oranges comparison, because Lolla went to four nights last year in order to celebrate an anniversary. But you still get a 5 of 9 matchup (if you ask me), which is still a close link but not that strong:

Radiohead	yes
Mumford & Sons	no
Kendrick Lamar	no
LCD Soundsystem	yes
Major Lazer	yes
Kygo	no
Chris Stapleton	yes
The Chainsmokers	no
Flume	yes

So, what do we know because of all of that?  At a minimum, you can assume that at least 4 of the top nine artists on the Lolla poster will be in Austin in the fall.  And we have some precedence for an even closer relationship.  So, how likely are we to see the top nine on the Lolla poster for this year?  Let's dig in.  

Actually, first, I want to note that I've heard about two bands that will definitely be at ACL. During my recent adventures, I ran in to people who tell me that they are in the know.  Who knows, they could have been lying or wrong, but I've been told that Foster the People and Rainbow Kitten Surprise will both appear at the Fest this fall.

Now, let's dig in.

1. Chance the Rapper.  I talked about him already in my post about bands making the Festival rounds this year, and my thought there was a no, that he would not come to ACL.  He was at ACL in 2015, so he definitely has the capacity and range to come to Austin.  I saw him at that show, and as I said back then, I wanted him to be better than I thought he was.  His tour schedule is up now, and it doesn't even show that he is playing Lolla (which is odd, oh wait, yes it does, if you scroll down), but it does just perfectly end right before ACL starts, with a shows in LA on 10/3 and 10/4 a few days before ACL kicks off on 10/6.  So, yeah, I guess he could be one of the big headliners. But, he's going to be here in Austin to play the JMBLYA Festival on May 5 and 6.  My gut tells me that he won't be back in Austin this fall.  Go with your gut, young man. No.
• EDIT on 4/20/17:  I actually went and researched the times that a band has played ACL twice with only one year gap in between years.  Ends up that isn't that outlandish - they've done it recently with Major Lazer, Tame Impala, and the Avett Brothers.  So I'm going to go against my original gut feeling and say that he is the big rap name for the year.  Yes.
2. The Killers.  Interesting.  The only festival appearance they've had (of the big four) since 2011 is Lolla in 2013. Looks like they played ACL in 2007 (when they were much more popular).  Maybe they are just about to release some hugely wonderful new album, but otherwise I just can't understand why they would be the headliner for ACL. This non-official-looking website shows that they are only playing festivals this year (although none are notable fests other than Lolla).  They have apparently started recording a new album back in September 2016, but their website is devoid of any sort of announcements or news.  Their Twitter doesn't provide any clues.  I dunno.  Funny thing is that I randomly, with no evidence, named them in my original outrageously early predictions post this year.  So, what the hell, sure, I say they'll put out a new album and ride into Austin on a wave of good new tunes.  Let's go with it.  Yes.
3. Muse.  I mean, I've bagged on Muse before just because they seem to be the default "We need a rock band that is big but not like crazy expensive big" choice for headliner every few years.  But the actual truth is they have a pattern here: 2007, 2010, 2013. This means that they actually missed the 2016 slot in their pattern and the spell is broken and the CURSE IS OVER!!!  Just kidding.  I actually like Muse's music, and I've heard they put on a hell of a fun show, so it wouldn't bother me if they came back this year.  However, the fly in that ointment is that they are already playing Austin this summer on June 10, and from looking at the website there, it looks like tickets are still available.  Not a ringing endorsement of how we should have them back to Austin just a few months later to headline our premier festival.  I'm going to go with no.
4. Arcade Fire.  Yes, please, and thank you.  Yeah, sure, I can see it.  They haven't played ACL since 2011, they've finished recording their new album and have a "massive tour" in the works, and as of now they appear to be available on the ACL dates in October after some Fests in Europe and then Lolla.  Feeling good about this one, so I'll go with a hearty yes.
5. The XX.  I've previously looked at them with my analysis of bands making the festival rounds this year, and my conclusion at that time was that they would not come right back to Austin after their upcoming, sold-out shows at the Moody Theatre in May.  And although I just said that Muse wouldn't be coming here for that exact same reason, my instinct is actually that the XX would end up coming back for ACL even though they'll be here soon.  First, they have a massively popular new album out (unlike Muse), their Austin shows are sold out (unlike Muse), and C3 has already booked them to play the South American Lollas and the Chicago Lolla (unlike Muse).  So I'm going to go for it and say they'll be here as well.  Yes.
6. Lorde.  Yes.  Again, I looked at her with the analysis of bands doing all the festivals this year, and decided that she was a lock to come to Austin.  Not going to stray from the stance now.  The last dates on her current touring calendar are early August, so she's got the time.  She's started teasing her new album with a few singles on Spotify (that are pretty solid, they're no "Royals" yet, but we'll see), and the new album is out in June.  Yes.
7. Blink 182.  Another one that seems pretty plausible, except that they are already playing the Austin 360 Ampitheater (oh no, wait, they already played it.  The show was last Wednesday night).  Oh wow, and then they are playing Lubbuck, Frisco, and Amarillo?  Yikes.  One step away from county fairs here.  The tour ends in time to come back for ACL.  The Austin show was apparently not sold out either, so I'm not feeling these guys getting a slot to come back for the Fest.  I'll go with no.
8. DJ Snake.  Well, I don't know crap about this guy other than the TURNED DOWN FOR WHAT song with Lil John.  Hopefully he does come along and plays at the same time as somebody I want to see and the whole crowd goes and leaves to hear his massively popular track "Let Me Love You."  I think I would hate this show.  Anyway, his website calendar shows that he'll play Coachella (but neglects to mention Lolla) and then several other fests, with nothing happening after July 8.  He put out an album in 2016, so I guess he has new music to pimp.  Ehhhh, sure, I guess he could be the big EDM headliner for this year?  I'm so ignorant about that genre.  I'll go with yes.
9. Justice.  Uhhhh, still out of my league here.  I guess these dudes could share a plane with DJ Snake from France?  Oh no, wait, they are currently on tour and their tour includes dates in England on Sept. 28 and 29 and France on October 9 and October 14, so they definitely wouldn't be playing second weekend.  I'll go ahead and decide that they aren't going to play either weekend and give them a no.

So, if my predictions are right, we'll have 5 of 9 of the headliners here in Austin.  Last year, I correctly guessed whether or not the Lolla headliners would be here on 6 out of 9 (incorrectly thought we'd see Red Hot Chilis, Lana Del Rey, and Ellie Goulding), so I've done OK in the past.
Now for other folks on the 2017 Lolla lineup that I think will be there:

• Foster the People.  As mentioned above, I heard it from a guy who heard it from his best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. So Yes.
• Big Sean.  This is a total gut call.  He's got a good new track on the radio right now, a new album to pimp, and ACL needs some rappers in the lineup.  His tour ends in April, so it gives no indication that he would be here.  Just feels right and I'll go yes.
• Ryan Adams.  I haven't posted this yet, but go read through the ACL Fest Twitter account. Other than Grammy winners, there is literally one artists that they have tweeted about since last October.  And that is a Throw Back Thursday post about Ryan Adams at the first ACL in 2002. He just put out a good new album, and his current tour ends 9/22/17, a few weeks before ACL. Feeling good about this one, yes.
• The Shins.  A big tour that goes to Houston for Free Press, but does no other Texas dates and then ends in late August.  New album that sounds to be a good one.  They fit with the normal festival ethos of ACL.  When I looked at it earlier for bands playing the festivals this year, I went with yes.  I'll go yes.
• Glass Animals.  Playing Stubb's in a few weeks (4/11/17) after playing the South America Lollas and then the real Lolla, which are all C3 booked things.  Feels like a mid-tier group that will fill out the lineup.  Yes.
• Spoon.  Please?!?  I mean, if Lolla can have Chance do a hometown show, can't we have these guys bring it for us here at home?  They've got a monster tour on tap with a summer in Europe and no dates in Texas.  The tour ends on 9/15, giving them plenty of time to get geared up for two massive hometown blowouts.  Yes.
• Rae Sremmurd.  Hottest song of last year, were here for SXSW and now get Lolla?  Their tour doesn't give much in the way of clues, the tour is over by July 8 and only includes one Texas show in Dallas.  But this feels like the hot group of the moment kind of thing that would do both Lolla and ACL this year.  Yes.
• Rag'n'Bone Man.   I feel like this dude is going to make the best of his new fame as he can to hit it running right now.  He's doing a buttload of European festivals but then his tour ends on Sept. 7.  So he's got the time and space to come.  Feels right to me, even though this evidence is very thin.  Yes.
• Car Seat Headrest.  I've already predicted this one.  Sticking with it, especially now that he's on the Lolla poster.  Playing a ton of festivals and then done with his tour by early September.  Yes.
• Warpaint.  Also had them as likely because of their festival attendance this year, so I'll stick with that now that they are also on Lolla.  Tour ends in July, so they've got the room to tack on ACL.  Yes.
• Highly Suspect.  Current tour takes them to Houston and Dallas but no central Texas dates, doing other festivals, and I'd really like to see them, so I'm going to go for it.  Yes.

I've still got some more predicting to do, but this one is definitely one of the biggest ones.  I'll be back with more soon!

RTJ

I forgot that I never shared this Tiny Desk concert for Run the Jewels.  If you haven't already watched it, go check it out.  The delivery of these lines, the interplay with the crowd, its fantastic.

Quick Hits, Vol. 122 (Strand of Oaks, Spoon, Norah Jones, Cornershop)

Strand of Oaks - Hard Love.  This dude came to ACL a few years ago, right after he had put out an album that had made a best of the year list or two.  So I remember really liking his last album (HEAL, and especially "Goshen '97"), and it is no surprise that I like this disc a lot too.  Straight rock and roll, with a little bit of a My Morning Jacket or Ryan Adams feel to it.  I've played it non-stop for two days now and don't see any reason to stop listening to this thing.  The top track is "Radio Kids," currently with 338k listens on Spotify.

And that opening line?  So perfect: "remember how it felt to listen, fumbling to press record." This was the story of my young childhood, trying to tape songs off the radio so that I could keep on listening on my own time or make mix tapes for my friends.  Back in those sweet halcyon days of only having the money to afford a few tapes or CDs and therefore listening them to death.  I can't decide whether I think we're actually better off having every song at our fingertips at all time, or if it was better back when I dedicated all of my listening time to devouring only a few select albums.  And the chorus also strikes a chord for my youth: "I got my headphones on, And my parents will never know, It's something that we had before we lost control, On the radio."  Great song of longing that fits well in my history.
The song I remember best like this was Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover."  I had an entire session of summer camp where I couldn't get the song out of my brain, but of course I didn't own the tune, so when I came home I waited by the radio with my finger poised over the record button, just to get a copy of that opening lick of molten guitar flamethrower.  Anyway, this whole album is good.  You should check it out.  I'll keep it around for more.

Spoon - Hot Thoughts.  Spoon are great.  Love that we have another legit local rock and roll band that gets national attention.  The opening single off of this album, which has been getting radio play and opens the disc, is a sexy, slinky little nugget of danceable rock groove.

If that one doesn't make you bob your head a little and want to shake the caboose, then its time to get out of your chair and try again.  And loosen up a little.  AND QUIT BEING SUCH A DAMN JERKFACE!!!  <breathing exercises>  Literally, back when I was at my first job out of college, a big Internet company, they made us take breathing exercise classes one day. Something about centering yourself when times got stressful.  This was while working at a company with a well used foosball table, ping pong tables, unlimited cokes and beers in coolers, and frequent leave-work-early happy hours.  Wish I remembered that breathing stuff now.
ANYWAY, the whole album is funky and fun rock that I like a lot.  Well, other than the 5 minutes of saxophone meandering that is "Us," at the end of the album.  I could have done without whatever that is supposed to be.  Check this one out, you'll probably like it.

Norah Jones - Day Breaks.  I want to like this one a lot more than I do.  I loved her first album (like everyone else in the entire world did), even though this type of jazzy piano music isn't really my normal cup of tea.  I've given this one a few chances, and it is still lovely music and all, but I can't say I'd need to keep going with it.  The hit is "Carry On," with 10.5 million streams.

Like I said, super pretty and soulful and nice, but I'm OK.  I'll toss this one back into the sea and carry on.

Cornershop - Hold On Its Easy.  No clue where I found this album of jazzy easy listening. Weirder than that is the bio for this band, who are apparently very popular, toured with Oasis, and had an older album named as Spin's album of the year.  Never heard of any of it. But I can do without this album, although I think I'll check out that older one.

Lollapalooza Lineup 2017 Announced

WOOHOO!  Not as big a day as when the ACL Lineup comes out, but its right there next to it.  The lineup for Lolla 2017 is up now and its got some good stuff.  I'll spend more time later predicting which of these will come to ACL, for now this is just about discussing this festival on its own.

The big three are Chance the Rapper, The Killers, and Muse.  

• No shock that Chance is going to make a big homecoming lap to Chicago after his huge year with the Coloring Book mixtape.  He'd be cool to see again.  
• The Killers were cool a while back - I never saw them live and might enjoy it, but I'm curious if they have any new music coming out.  I kind of thought they had broken up or something. Apparently they put out an album in 2012.  Who knew?  But nothing since then.
• Muse. Freaking Muse.  The bothersome thing is that I generally like Muse's music, but I feel like they were a headliner for ACL 94 times during the last few years (patently untrue, I know this), so I'm less excited about them being in the top three here.  Their last album was 2015, so they also are not touring on fresh tunes.

Second grouping gets better for me.  This is the good meat of the lineup.

• Arcade Fire are amazing and I'd go watch them again in a heartbeat.
• The XX is surprisingly great, or at least their new album was.  No clue about their live show.
• Lorde would be fun, although like other fest comments I've made, where is the new music?
• Blink 182 would also be fun.  Never seen them live but I'd go for it.
• DJ Snake.  This is the "Turn Down for What" guy.  And apparently he has a Justin Beiber song since then with 690 MILLION FREAKING LISTENS on Spotify.  The world is a crazy place man.  No thanks on this one.
• Justice.  I think I remember these guys from a long time ago.  French DJs?  Yes, their song D.A.N.C.E. is a jam.  So very French and funky.

The next portion of the top third gets me excited about ACL, because this is a solid chunk of non-top-tier artists who I'd love to see:  Run the Jewels, Cage the Elephant (I know they were just at ACL last year), Big Sean, Head & the Heart, The Shins, Ryan Adams, Liam Gallagher, Spoon.  That is some good stuff up there in that top third of the poster.  BUT: Wiz Khalifa is dumb.  Migos are homophobic trash.  Some of these are groups that I forgot about after their one hit, so maybe they are coming back (looking at you Milky Chance, Vance Joy, and Tove Lo).

After that, there are still some good things, but a lot I just don't know.  If the "Live" they have on here is the "Live" of Throwing Copper and Paaaaaaaaahhaaiiin lies on the riversaaaaaaaiiiid! then I am praying for a repeat for Austin.  That would be rad.  No other artist (he says with zero research) has ever tenderly sung about a woman's placenta.  It'd be fun to see them for sure.  Royal Blood is awesome.  I'd try out Rae Sremmurd.  Noname is cool.  I've heard good things about RagnBone Man. Car Seat Headrest is fantastic.  Highly Suspect made one of my favorite albums of last year.  Alvvays makes me happy.  And Maggie Rogers played a great set at SXSW this year.

Probably another month and a half before we see the ACL poster, but this is exciting!

FYF Lineup 2017

Another festival that has been coming up with pretty solid lineups is the FYF Fest in LA.  Last year they had Kendrick Lamar, LCD Soundsystem, and Tame Impala among others, the year before they had Morrissey, D'Angelo, and Frank Ocean.  This year, I think they did even better.

Lineup.

Top Line Stuff:

• Bjork.  Oh man.  How much do I want to finally get to see Bjork in person.  My college friends know of my unhealthy passion for her first two albums.  This would be cool.
• Missy Elliott?  Is there a better female rapper on the planet?  I don't think so.  You can talk all of your Nicki Minaj noise or tell me how up and comers like Young Ma and Lizzo are doing it right, but screw your noise.  Missy is the Queen.
• Frank Ocean.  Meh.  I guess I'd go watch, but this wouldn't be my night to rock out.
• Nine Inch Nails.  So long as they stuck to the classic music, then cool.  If they are just going to play the Social Network type noise garbage that has no danceable angle, then no thanks.

Next Few Lines:

• Tribe Called Quest. Hells to the Yes.  All day.
• Erykah Badu.  Eehhh, not really for me.  Unless she would just play the one about calling Tyrone the whole time.
• Iggy Pop.  Liked his last album, would give this a shot.
• Solange.  Nah.
• RUN THE JEWELS! ANDERSON.PAAK!  I'd love to see both of those dudes right now.

Small Type:  Here is where the lineup absolutely drops into a hole.  I love Temples and would be psyched to see them again.  But I barely even know anyone below like the 3rd line.  That being said, there is a band named Horse Meat Disco, so I think we can all agree that all is right with the world.

Overall, not the greatest lineup ever or anything, but if I lived in the LA area I'd go for sure.

Garth Brooks: 3/17/17 at the Broken Spoke

I really think I can pretty easily put this up there in the top ten of all shows that I've ever seen.  I'm no Garth super fan or anything, but I've always enjoyed his music well enough and can sing along to just about anything on that Hits album from the mid-90s.  Well, I was out with some friends for most of Friday, bouncing around and seeing some great stuff all over town (more to come on those other shows), when we ended up at Stubb's to see a showcase that was going to include White Denim.  I love White Denim, so I was pumped.

But then one of my friends got a text from someone else, saying that Brooks was maybe going to be playing a surprise pop-up show at the Broken Spoke starting at 9.  The guy said that the cover was only $12 and that no one was there.  So we jumped into a fake-Uber and hauled ass out there.  When we arrived, the vibe in the room was hilarious.  75% of the people there were just regular Broken Spoke Friday nighters, dancing to the house band, wearing western wear, and sipping on beers.  Then the back half of the dance floor started filling up with hipster kids and other decidedly non-country types, and the room started to buzz a little bit.  

I grabbed my friend's wife and started to teach her how to two-step when I saw some friends up by the stage, dancing in a funny little circle.  We stopped to talk to them and the husband said they were just going to dance right there so that they could be in front row when the show started. Which was brilliant.  As we were standing there (for literally all of 30 seconds) this gruff old bastard in a cowboy hat came up and yelled at us that there ain't no standing on the dance floor.  "Either get her off or dance!"  So we finished dancing to that song, and I went back out for another dance with one of her friends.  At the end of that song, the house band packed up.

As soon as the house band left the stage, everyone who knew what was going on crowded immediately up to the stage, and most of the rest of the place then realized that something was going on so they joined in.  I ended up about 5 people from the stage.

Garth Brooks at the Spoke. If you have the chance to see him, tomorrow in Austin, later on in Vegas or Tulsa or whatever. Do it. Excellent. pic.twitter.com/27zv5uim2n

— Dull Jack (@dulljackmusic) March 18, 2017

I assume you'll be able to see that pic from my Twitter feed.  If not, just go party on my Tweets.

He came out, just him and his acoustic guitar, no band and no fuss.  He immediately broke right into "Friends in Low Places," which is, by far, the best way he could have ratcheted the crowd up from vaguely curious into a ravenously, devouringly, uncontrollably happy mob. He continued through a bunch of his hits (Two of a Kind, Thunder Rolls, Two Pina Coladas, Papa Loved Mama, The Dance, Rodeo, plus more) and a handful of classic covers.  About an hour and a half later, he handed his guitar over to the owner of the joint and walked off-stage.

Obviously, it was cool to see him play a tiny venue like that with so few people there and just him and his guitar.  But the best part, by far, of the performance was how genuinely thrilled he seemed to be up there.  After each song, when the crowd would roar its approval and throw up their hands and start yelling for another song, he would just grin and back away from the mike with a look of pure joy.  At one point he said something to the effect of "if honky tonks had been like this 20 years ago, I never would have left."  

Seriously, a once in a lifetime show for me.  Could not be happier that I made it in to this one.  In the past, I've always heard afterwards how Metallica or Prince or Justin Timberlake of Kanye had done a surprise show, and I've been bummed that I missed out.  I feel pretty good about it now.

Quick Hits Vol. 121 (Noname, Goon, Crying, Snoop Dogg)

Noname - Telefone.  This gal was getting a lot of press and discussion last year for being in with Chance the Rapper, a fellow Chicagoan.  Like Chance, she has a kind of contemplative flow.  I've kept this album going now for a few days and I really like it.  This is not going to be overwhelming rap, full of rumbling, tough beats or brags about cars or drugs.  Instead, you get a softer touch, smartly running through solid rhymes in an almost shy way.  The most popular track (by about 4x) is "Diddy Bop," which features Raury and something called Cam O'bi, and has about 4.2 million streams.

It starts off sounding like an Erika Badu track or something, with that almost un-tuned music shimmering out over a spare beat, and lyrics about good times (well, and some hard bits) of growing up in the neighborhood.  The chorus: "Run, run, run, mama say come home before the streetlights do, Ice cream on my front porch in my new FUBU and my A1’s too, Watching my happy block my whole neighborhood hit the diddy bop."  Its not like any of the other rappers I'm listening to right now, and that makes me happy.  I think she's talented at turning a phrase and coming up with rhymes, and the music itself is contemplative and interesting.  I'll keep it.

Goon - Dusk of Punk.  Grimy, jangly, dreamy, punkish alt rock.  Only six songs on here, so its one of those albums that has disappeared by the time you even really start to get your head around it.  Literally 17 damn minutes long.  Wish it was longer.  The album opener ("Dizzy") or the closer ("Scab") are my favorites, and one track in the middle ("Merchant Hall") goes into full Pixies scream-o-rama-thon mode, which I could do without.  Here's that album opener, which is the most popular track by a mile (58k listens vs. 6k for the next most heard, meaning that most people probably just listen to the first track and then bail out).

I like the sound.  I think I would go with more of the music from these guys, so I'll just have to wait until they get a full-sized LP together.

Crying - Beyond the Fleeting Gates.  This reminds me of the Breeders, if they had been into adding synths to their rock.  I think my favorite part of any of it is in "Premonitory Dream" when the guitars remind me of the old Hum song "Counting Stars."  That song ruled.

 Alt-rock crunch, solid voices lead singer, they're hitting the right notes for me.  But this is just the album opener.  After this piece, the notes and feel sound the same, but something about it hollows out and I don't care as much anymore.  I also think that sometimes the cheese factor fires up (looking at you, synths on "The Curve") and is too much for me. I've listened to the album about ten times by now, and I like it well enough, but not so much that I think I'd suggest it or keep listening to it.  Seems like a weird thing to say, but true...

Snoop - Coolaid.  Awwwww man.  I just want him to still be 18 and hungry and real.  Before the fall out with Dre and terrible albums as a No Limit Soldier and the reggae years.  The same dude that made "Who Am I?" one of the coolest songs I remember of my high school driving days.  The album opener on this is pretty much distilled as this: Snoop considers himself to be a muthafuckin legend. Over a plodding beat.  And it just keeps going from there, except for a "legend," I sure do feel like he bites a lot of other people's sounds and beats.  But then "Super Crip" comes in and I'm bobbin' my head preparing to creep through the fog with my homie Doggy Dogg.

Aw yeah.  Good one.  Tough shit!  But then the album (at 20 freaking songs and 87 minutes) has some real stinkers like "Double Tap" (a terrible song equating smart phone finger tapping with sex) or "Kush Ups."  Overall, this is not a good album.

Quick Hits, Vol. 120 (Angel Olsen, Warpaint, Phish, Danny Brown)

Angel Olsen - My Woman.  This album was one of those critical darlings from last year that made loads of best-of lists, and parts of it are pretty good, but I don't know that it is really my jam.  I think the only one that I want to hear anymore is "Shut Up Kiss Me," the rest devolves into kind of whiny, torchy, breathy stuff too much for me to like it.

Rockin' enough to pique my interest, but if that is the best the album has to offer, then it isn't my thing.  Although that video did kind of make me want to go roller skating.

Taking a break from new music today to just listen to the Beastie Boys.  Sometimes you just need to go back to the best things and stop searching.  OK, back at it.  By the way, if you've never done the "Root Down" remix that was on the single, that beat is freaking dope as dope can be.

Warpaint - Heads Up.  I really wanted to like this album, I thought their last one was pretty good, but honestly this disc just doesn't do much for me.  Kind of a mix between rock and electronic and indie, I don't know what you would actually call this music, but it is odd enough to be offputting to me.  The most popular track on here is more of a straight pop tune, "New Song," with about 4.7 million streams on Spotify.

Nah.  I mean, its catchy and poppy and I'll probably still be singing it under my breath in 3 hours, but their older music was more impressively different and interesting, where this is uninteresting to me. I'll let this album go.

Phish - Big Boat.  Man, Phish is annoying to me.  I have always wished that I really liked them, ever since my sister gave me a mix tape of her favorite tracks, but nope.  I can't get there.  Something about the sing/song pattern of these noodly little tunes makes me feel like this is children's music. Maybe it is - tunes for drug addled people who are in the mental state of children.  The top track right now from the album is "Blaze On," with 343k streams.

I can just imagine a field full of Bonnaroo dudes grooving out and dancing while they sing along and blaze their fat joints in their nice shades.  "You got one life, blaze on, bro!"  Don't get me wrong, this music is all fine.  Each time I've listened to this disc, I've found myself bouncing along and kind of grooving to it, but nothing in here would ever make me want to come back for more.

Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition.  Apparently this entire post is going to be me griping about all of this music.  This is another guy who the critics really like, and I think the beats and the lyrics are both pretty great, but I can't listen to the tone of his voice.  He is so nasal and up high in his vocal register for every rap that it just kills my brain.  The track that features Kendrick Lamar is the best one, as it lets a different voice come on there and stop the destruction of my eardrums.  Here is the song with an official video from the album, "Pneumonia."

For the chorus he drops his vocal range down to a regular rapping voice that is just right, but then when the verse starts up he jacks it back up into hell voice.  I can't freaking take it anymore.  I never want to hear this again.

Right Now List: Demotions

I've noted before that I keep huge queues of songs in Spotify to listen to, and use one called "New Stuff" to save up all of the new things I should check out before I forget.  Well, I also have a list called "Right Now," which is where I move anything that passes that first test and sounds like something that I am going to want to keep around.  This week, I read a story about how streaming services are removing some of the strength of our connection to music, because we treat each song the same way we treat news stories, something to be quickly devoured and then scanned past in search of new news.  This hit very close to home for me, as I have definitely noticed that I never really get to spend a ton of time with the best music, because I'm always searching for more and spending my time listening to new

.So, I've decided to shuffle my way through that "Right Now" playlist for a few days, and it has been awesome.  So much truly fantastic music in there.  Things I'd totally forgotten about, like Noah Gunderson or Drenge, and things that I remember being good but just haven't gone back to in a while, like the Decemberists (give me the "Lake Song" or give me death) and Wolf Alice and Jose Gonzalez and Tame Impala and Chris Stapleton and case/lang/veirs and on and on.

But, a few things have done something else, where I look up and say "who the hell is this and why is it a keeper?"  To those, I dedicate this post as I delete them from this playlist and let them go back to whence they came.

• Alex G - DBU.  Chilled little DIY music, but nah.
• Halsey - Badlands.  I was somehow sucked in by "New Americana" and its mentions of Biggie and Nirvana, or something, because I don't want to hear this album anymore.
• Eliot Sumner - Information.  I think I was blinded by how much she sounds like her dad's singing voice, but in actuality, I don't need to keep this one around.
• The Libertines - Anthem for Doomed Youth.  Why did I like this?
• more to come...

Quick Hits, Vol. 119 (William Night, Angela Parrish, Swet Shop Boys, Two Door Cinema Club)

William Night - There Will Be Night.  No clue where I found this, but its kind of blandly pretty R&B singer/songwriter pop.  I have no clue why this is in my queue.  No song has more than a thousand listens on Spotify.  None of this sounds like something I'd ever aim for in my music.  No YouTube videos for me to link to you.  Bu-bye.

Angela Parrish - Faithful and Tall.  Another one with less than a thousand listens for any of the songs on Spotify.  Where did I come up with these people?  Is Spotify just populating my lists without telling me?  This gal has a nice, strong voice, but the tunes are just kind of generically in between soft country and soft rock and I dunno.  Stuff I don't listen to much.  I won't hold on to this.

Swet Shop Boys - Cashmere.  This stuff is weird and wonderful.  Made up of an Indian-American dude who was part of Das Racist (Heems) and an English-Pakistani dude named MC Riz, this stuff kind of sounds like M.I.A.'s Diplo beats - strange and worldly and catchy - and the raps are clever enough for me to enjoy as well.  Thankfully, my favorite from the album is also the most popular track, so here, enjoy "T5"

473k listens on Spotify, 235k views on YouTube.  Taking on the racial profiling going on at the airports these days.  I have to say, the last time I got selected for a random search, it was a beat down. And I'm the most plain jane whitey in the whole airport, I can only imagine how awful it must feel to have that happen if you are rocking a foreign passport.  "Shottin" is about evil cops.  "Zayn Malik" also has a fine beat with a great tiger growl at the start, and a Streets-esque flow about God knows what.  Also of note, MC Riz was in Rogue One.  That kind of rules.  I've enjoyed a few runs through this, but I'm just going to keep a few tracks.

Two Door Cinema Club - Gameshow.  So I saw these dudes at ACL last year at the advice of a friend and had a freaking blast.  Highly fun show of danceable rock jams.  This new album is in that same vein, with groove-based rock jams that are pretty fun to bounce along to in my office. However, I have to say that some of these songs devolve down into an Abba-esque disco groove that gets a little old to me.  So falsetto.  So "Fever," "Surgery," and "Invincible" (which frankly goes more 80's falsetto ballad than 70's) are kind of annoying in my book.  Actually, the more I listen to the album, it has a few great tunes and then a bunch I could do without.  But here is one that is a fun jam anyway, called "Bad Decisions."

Yeah, that tune, like a few others on here, are fun and loose and make me like these guys.  I bet I'd love to see them go live again sometime, but as for this album, I'll let it go.