John Mayer - Sob Rock. This dude is interesting to me, the way he leans into the cheese. I actually like his music and have thought that his last several albums are solid. I even tried to buy tickets to go see his live show when it swings through town, but the pricing was stupid. I'd love to catch a show, but like $500 for two seats (and not even awesome seats) is plain dumb. Except for one song, I think this album is good. "Shouldn't Matter But It Does" sounds like a Taylor Swift tune. "Last Train Home" makes me think of latter day Eric Clapton. "New Light" is just poppy 80's schtick dancing all over the floor like Anthony Michael Hall. That is the top song by a couple hundred million, with 494.7 million under its belt. That actually surprises me, but good for him. It's a fun song.
Goofy lyrics, goofy sound, goofy video. It all checks out. But its still a good tune. The awful one is the baby-talk-ass "Why You No Love Me." I literally can't handle the chorus. It's a jenky ass song even if the chorus lyrics didn't sound like a Baby Muppet song. "Carry Me Away" and "I Guess I Just Feel Like" are also good tunes. Overall a good disc!
Leon Bridges - Gold-Diggers Sound. Texas Monthly had an excellent article about Bridges a few months back that really dove into him and now I like him even more than I already did. It was just very humanizing to read about his history - a nervousness about performing, but a steely need to get himself out there. There was an awesome anecdote in there about how some of his friends chastised him about acting shy, saying "that shy shit is disrespectful of your gift." I love that. His voice is so damn pretty, and some of these arrangements just match it perfectly. "Steam" is the jam, and "Motorbike" is damn good too. But the current streamer champ is "Sweeter," with features someone named Terrace Martin. 14.7 million streams. I suspect it is on a few playlists.
A beautiful song, a powerful song. "somebody should hand you a felony, 'cause you stole from me, my chance to be. Hopin' for a life more sweeter, instead I'm just a story repeated." Ah, Martin is the sax player who worked with Kendrick Lamar and then helped out on this album. I read about him. Great song. I'll keep this album too.
Ty Segall - Harmonizer. I've laughed about this album before I even got a chance to hear it, because either Sun Radio or KUTX has been playing one of these songs, and I don't think it would actually be possible for my wife to change the stations any quicker than when he starts to make his guitar squawk and squeal. And now that I've heard it, I just have to laugh at the terrible line in the title song about how he wants to "hear our tongues make friction." I'll never get over that line. That tune has more streams right now, but the one that I have been jonesing for and seeking out again and again is "Whisper." 456k streams.
Got a distinct Jack-White-wailing-on-his-guitar-vibe, as well as some of those old school organ licks. And the rest of the album keeps that psych rock fuzzy guitar jam thing going in a very tasty way. I dig the groove. Like, "Play" has a stone cold funk going and yet also sounds like he is torturing his guitar to get it to spill all of its secrets. Somehow he turns the sludgy fuzz of psych rock into something I could dance to - check "Feel Good" - which feels like the people in Sixteen Candles should dance to it. Dig it.
Jade Bird - Different Kinds of Light. I know it doesn't really matter, as thousands of people flock to Austin and now attempt to call it home, but it makes me very pleased that Jade Bird has moved to town. Her songs are lovely, and having her live her just makes me feel like the whole town is a touch better. She was on the ACL poster, but had some BS time slot like 11am on Sunday, so I didn't get to see the show, but I'm hopeful I can rectify that sometime soon. This album has some quiet stuff, and then some funky stuff, and all of it is carried by her insistent voice. She can do a quiet purr or a brassy blast in any given song, and that ease of change is appealing to me anytime. Five of the tracks have more than a million streams, but somehow they are all sprinkled around the album. Can't recall a time when the top tracks were so evenly spread around the playlisting. Second-to-top track is "Houdini" with just over 2 million streams.
Live version, but you'll get the gist anyway. Beautiful. Terribly sad lyrics, but just a beautiful song anyway. The top track is "Headstart," the last song on the album, and a great, driving hammer of a tune. 7.7 million streams and a great groove, and another classic example of her going quiet/loud/quiet to good effect. This is a good album.
Random Non-Musical Interlude That Later Becomes About Music: I read an interesting article advocating against the K-Zone thing during baseball games. I agree with the article, because I was definitely frustrated while watching the World Series this year, yelling about balls and strikes despite those being subjective things that only the ump can call. In the midst of the article, the writers went into a bit about a music book by David Byrne that I thought was cool.
Technology has a habit of ruining our brains like this. In his book, How Music Works, David Byrne catalogs the history of recorded music, and how much the first word in that phrase affected the second one. When Thomas Edison popularized sound recordings in version two of his patented phonograph, the effects were immediate and widespread. The wax records of the time could only store 3 ½ minutes of music per side, making existing classical music virtually unmarketable, and forcing songs into adapting the length that now, to our generation, seems pre-ordained.
It also changed how music was played, and what was going to be used to play it. Instruments with heavy low notes tended to vibrate the records as the impressions were made into the wax, forcing them to play farther away or be eliminated entirely. To make up for the distortions in the surface of the record (and thus in the sound), vibrato, a technique rarely used prior (and even seen as kind of tacky) became standard; if a bad record made a perfect note sound wrong, a warbling voice would at least still hit the range often enough for the brain to fill the correct note in. Now, singing devoid of any vibrato sounds wrong, or at least automatically twee.
Cool! This is why no band uses the bassoon to rock out the low notes! And why 3 minutes songs are the norm!
cleopatrick - BUMMER. Big fan of these guys. I know they're under the radar, I only found them because of ACL. Sounds like Royal Blood or Nothing But Thieves. Or another new fave the Blue Stones. And I know, a large number of people haven't even heard of the comps I just used - but what you're talking about here is bruising, fuzzed-out, pure rock and damn roll. Just two dudes - a guitarist/singer who had about 78 different pedals on stage when I saw their live show, which allows him to change the tone of his guitar in myriad ways, and a drummer who seems deeply pissed off at the skins on his drums. The old track "sanjake" is one that will make me run through a steel wall. Just an amazingly hype song. So, this is their first real album - released in 2021 - and it sticks with that same tried and true method. "THE DRAKE" and "FAMILY VAN" both crush in fantastic ways - and the latter of those is a good example of how he makes the guitar sound like a bass in one second and then a guitar in the next, to really good effect. "GOOD GRIEF" is the top streamer for now with 4.4 million.
Good tune, but a deeply terrible video. Like, I guess you got a video made for zero dollars and all, but that video blows. The thing that bums me out about this band is how few streams they get - I think this stuff absolutely rules. But I guess its not in vogue right now to make rock and roll. The first four tracks fire up over a million streams, as does the second-to-last tune, but then five of the tracks have less than 600k. Too bad, because I think they should be the next big thing. I've got tickets to see them in 2022 and hope that the show will be as good as the ACL performance. Definitely will keep pumping the disc.
Dee Gees - Hail Satin / Foo Fighters - Live. This is some deeply goofy shit, with the Foo Fighters playing five classic Bee Gees songs together in relatively pitch-perfect recreations of the originals. It's funky and funny for a little bit, and then the falsetto fest starts to grate a little bit. "You Should Be Dancing" and "Night Fever" are pretty solid, but "More Than a Woman" is where the bit goes too far. Unsurprisingly, the top track is the first one, which people checked out and got enough from. Feels like the joke could have been accomplished with just one tune, thrown out into the world as a lark, rather than creating a full on EP of it.
They are soooo serious in that video, which definitely makes it more funny. But I definitely don't need to save any of those disco songs. Funny for a sec and now they can move on. Then you get five "live" versions of tracks from Medicine at Midnight. I say "live" because it sounds like they aren't live in front of an audience, but more just raw cuts the guys put together in the studio before they got polished up by the producer. Although "No Son of Mine" pretty much just sounds like I remember the studio version sounding? "Making a Fire" has been in super heavy rotation on the radio here in Austin recently, which is odd, but also a good thing. I guess it's just the new single and I haven't been paying attention. More rock and roll for me! But that album wasn't my favorite Foos disc anyway, so I don't much need these redux versions for my collection.
Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee. Her last album was a tasty one as well, and this one has a little disco sparkle on top of an otherwise great indie rock sound. "Be Sweet" is a sunshiny pop nugget of an aspirational love song. The top track for sure with 12.5 million streams.
Kicks off kinda funky, and then the guitar and drums start to edge closer to disco, before the chorus kicks in and you are required to groove to the track and decide to honor synth-pop as cool. It just bangs with bouncy happiness. Jenky ass video too. "Slide Tackle" also has that disco pop feeling. Other tunes on here are less poppy and more indie, like the nice one that follows "Be Sweet," called "Kokomo, IN," which sounds like something you'd find on some indie budget movie's soundtrack. "Savage Good Boy" is another standout track that makes me think of Neko Case. This is good music. You usually find me on this blog whining about how overly long albums are, but in this case I wish it was even longer!
Guided By Voices - Earth Man Blues. I've heard of GBV for many moons, but I honestly don't know that I have ever heard any of their music. Their top song overall is called "Game of Pricks," from a 1995 album, but it rings no bells at all to me. They feel like the indie alternative rock that the critics love but the masses never figure out. Well, jumping in to their catalog at their 33rd album (just counted that up on Wikipedia) seems like an odd move, but either way, this disc is legit good. If I hadn't just pushed play on it myself, there are multiple songs on here that I think sound like Pearl Jam. The first three songs especially so. "The Disconnected Citizen" absolutely sounds like it could have popped up on one of the later PJ records that I forgot to deep dive on. Despite the critics probably loving this disc, there are literally only two tracks with more than 100k streams. "Trust Them Now" fires up 159k.
Nothing about it sounds new or novel, but it definitely sounds like a really good alternative band jamming some jangly rock and roll into my jangle-hole. Fast paced and good. Insistent drumming, jagged guitars, even some good background ooooohhhhhs! The cover says something about this being a John H. Morrison Musical Production of Earth Man Blues, which makes it sound like a special thing, but I think its just a regular album. Either way, I like it!
Lorde - Solar Power. I'm going to fully admit that I have stared for an unacceptably long time at the cover of this album, trying to discern if I find this acceptable, too much, shocking, titillating, or any other number of thoughts. I don't think Judge Breyer would call it porn, but he might. But I keep looking. As for the music itself, I hate this album with the power of the sun itself. I really liked "Royals," that is still a freaking brilliant song. But nothing on here is even good. I find it interesting that Jack Antonoff was so involved in it, because his super power is to popify everything to a grand sheen that doesn't even look shiny despite being near perfect. Instead, these sound both boring and thrown together. Entirely uninteresting. The title song tries to fire up a touch of dopamine, but its like she just copied someone else's happy music without actually putting her own back in to it. That is the top streamer, but I'm going to give you a different one that has the third most streams but more fully reflects the rest of this album with semi-nonexistent accompaniment. This is "Mood Ring." 27.7 million streams.
"Don't you think the early 2000's sound so far away? ayy ayyya yyayyyayayyyyyayy" Ugh. Sounds like a bad Brittney Spears song that never made it onto one of her albums. "Lets fly somewhere eastern, they'll have what I need" (while she looks knowingly at the camera) is just yucky. Nope. Hate it.
Bleachers - Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night. How about the real Jack Antonoff instead? The new album is agonizingly called Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, and the cover of it makes me think of Jeff Buckley's Grace. Springsteen comes out to holler some gravelly lines about finding tomorrow with a girl like you on "Chinatown." "How Dare You Want More" has saxophone as though it is a Bruce song. "45" starts out sounding like an acoustic Foo Fighters song, but then old Jack starts doing his semi-yelp singing pattern again and you can tell its Bleachers. The album kind of ends with a whimper - I definitely prefer the fun 80's bouncing tunes to the sad sack introspective stuff. Like, "How Dare You Want More" is a fun, snappy little tune, and the "Stop Making This Hurt" track is the winning spot on the album. 10.7 million streams.
Its that bouncy piano riff backed up by the little horn squonks that make it seem like you just need to dance to this tune. Heavy dose of 80's joy right there (even as the lyrics point at a darker moment behind that joyful sound). I don't love the whole album, but there are some bright spots like that one in here.
The Metallica Blacklist. This is a fun idea, but one that leaves me wondering what they were doing with the execution of it. 53 songs, clocking in around four hours, with a super-amazingly-wide list of artists covering tunes from Metallica's Black Album. Which all sounds rad, right? Obvious rockers like Weezer or Royal Blood or White Reaper, but then also left field candidates like Jason Isbell, Moses Sumney, Phoebe Bridgers, or The Neptunes. Chris Stapleton! My Morning Jacket! Cool! But then they organize the damn thing with all the songs grouped together by song. So when you try to listen to the album, you get six versions of "Enter Sandman" right away, before you get seven "Sad But True" versions, etc. Twelve people chose "Nothing Else Matters." Which is a rad song! But hearing it back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back is annoying. Gets very tiresome in a way that I don't think it would have if they would have tried to curate the songs into an order that wasn't so repetitive. Or, even better, force the contributing bands into doing certain songs, so that they could have made 6 complete cover albums. As it is, we have twelve of one song, and yet only one each of "The Struggle Within" and "Of Wolf and Man." Just tell the people what to do and you'd have a much better album.
The stream champ is the weirdo party of Miley Cyrus, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, something called WATT, the bassist from Metallica, and the drummer from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. 17.5 million streams. Nothing else is even close. J. Balvin has just under 5 million for second place.
That video is terrible. The cover is mediocre. Too close to the original, with some lame classical music flourishes in there.
Some of the tracks just re-use the original vocals and do something else underneath. I find those annoying. Like, whatever SebastiAn is, they just kind of play some funky music and replay the Hetfield vocals over the top. Not good. Same with the Neptunes track and the Mexican Institute of Sound, among others. I was hopeful at the start of Jon Pardi's "Wherever I May Roam." Musically, a good jam with some little country fiddle flourishes that make it kind of fun, but his voice sounds so country-dork I can't take it seriously after the intro. Alessia Cara is the same, the music under piques my interest, but then she just sounds like every pop star doing the pop star voice thing. And some are too close to the original, the Weezer one, the Royal Blood one, the White Reaper one, or the Corey Taylor version of "Holier Than Thou." The Ghost version of "Enter Sandman" starts as though it will be original and interesting, but then mainly turns into a normal recitation of the song, with a touch more harmony. Not interesting to just rip it the exact same way as the originals. They're not bad songs in general, but just too plain. Same with the "Holier Than Thou" covers, even between them they sound too alike. Tiresome.
But the skuzzy psychobilly of Mac DeMarco's "Enter Sandman" is great (and the Juanes version is better than the rest of that tune), the driving Americana of Jason Isbell's "Sad But True," Cage the Elephant and Moses Sumney's lovely and haunting (but separate) covers of "The Unforgiven," Flatbush Zombies turn that song into just a sample/hook and then add whole new rap verses around that to good effect. Probably the best song on here overall is the 12 song string of "Nothing Else Matters," with great versions by Phoebe Bridgers (so depressing and on brand), Dave Gahan, Dermot Kennedy (love the Irish lilt), Igor Levit (just piano, sounds lovely), Chris Stapleton (sounds so Chris Stapleton-ey its hard to believe) and even the goofy little version from My Morning Jacket. The Hootie one is pretty lame and overwrought.
Anyway, this review, like the album, went overly long. There is some good stuff here, but it feels like I could curate a disc with 12 songs on it that is great, versus what they gave us. The best ones are where you get to see some other facet of the music that wasn't so obvious in the original, a deeper look into the lyrics, a different feel.
The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore. As I listened to one of the songs on here - "I Don't Wanna Wait" - a great comp dawned on me. For some people, this will sound like the kiss of death, but as a lover of Bryan Adams from back in the day, I think saying that this sounds like classic Bryan Adams is actually a fine compliment. That dude could write a great turn of phrase, play the guitar, and craft up a pop rock nugget or three that still sound great today. And then the rest of the songs sound like Dylan got a backing band who only wants to do songs that would be good to drive to. Which also might sound like an insult, but I don't mean it as one. I love driving songs. "Harmonia's Dream" makes me think of Springsteen and the Killers and some never-created 80's band who were never featured on a soundtrack for E.T. Lots of synth riffage. I'd really like to see this band live - between this album and that last one I find them to be a great version of rock. The opener has the most streams, but I'm going to give you #2 that features nice vocals from Lucius. "I Don't Live Here Anymore" has 3.8 million streams.
Between that guitar solo at the start and the synths, you get that immediate 80's feel. And seeing the singer, it makes me realize that I sometimes mix up this band with Strand of Oaks, and yet they are definitely different bands. A lot of these songs are sad, or at least feature sadness as part of the lyrics. That one up above, and even more so, "Victim," makes me sad. Maybe my mind is trained to remember that 80's sound and think of the things I'm missing from that era, or maybe these songs just really do have some melancholy. Not sure which, but I'm enjoying the sound.
Coldplay - Music of the Spheres. What is going on here? Where is the band that wrote "Yellow" and "Clocks" and "A Rush of Blood to the Head"? One of the tracks on here literally sounds like the soccer chant that was stuck in my head for days after going to an Austin FC game. "Alright! Alright alright alriiiight, Austin, Verde!" And the name of that song is an infinity sign emoji? Five of the songs on this album are named as just an emoji of some sort. One song features BTS. One song features Selena Gomez. One song is over ten minutes long and sounds like they are trying to turn the Beatles into a space rock opera? That last one could probably be a good song, but it's just silly to play along with ten minutes of goofy ideas popping back and forth in the ether. I guess I actually like it, but it just feels like they could have honed it into a great song instead of what it is.
Just as a by the way, Wikipedia says that "Music of the Spheres is set in a fictional planetary system called The Spheres, which contains nine planets, three natural satellites, a star and a nebula, each of which corresponds to a certain track on the record. According to lead singer Chris Martin, its concept and themes were inspired by the Star Wars film franchise, which made him wonder what other artists could be like across the universe. ... Each track on the album represents a celestial body from The Spheres. Following the album's track listing, they are: Neon Moon I ("Music of the Spheres"), Kaotica ("Higher Power"), Echo ("Humankind"), Kubik ("Alien Choir"), Calypso ("Let Somebody Go"), Supersolis ("Human Heart"), Ultra ("People of the Pride"), Floris ("Biutyful"), Neon Moon II ("Music of the Spheres II"), Epiphane ("My Universe"), Infinity Station ("Infinity Sign"), and Coloratura ("Coloratura"). Supersolis is the star at the centre of the system, and Coloratura is the Nebula. Each celestial body in The Spheres has its own language: EL 1 for Neon Moon I, Kaotican for Kaotica, Mirror Text for Echo, Qblok for Kubik, Aquamarine for Calypso, Supersolar for Supersolis, Voltik for Ultra, Bloom for Floris, EL 2 for Neon Moon II, Spheric for Epiphane, Infinitum for Infinity Station, and Coloraturan for Coloratura." THAT IS SO DEEPLY STUPID. Why can't y'all just make a normal album with 12 kick ass songs on it?
Here is the top track - "Higher Power," which has somehow belched out 122.9 million streams on Spotify and 28 million views on YouTube.
If Blade Runner had more robot bugs and rainbow lights and dancing aliens... I get bummed out when I realize how vapid some band lyrics are. I've stubbornly stuck by the side of the Foo Fighters despite evidence of their bad lyrics, but these are tough to stomach. "I'm so happy that I'm alive, happy I'm alive at the same time as you, cause you've got a higher power, got me singing every second, dancing every hour, ... and you're really someone I wanna know." Ugh. Again, I wish they had just released another album of classic bangers, included BTS to get their streaming numbers up, and left out the alien space crapola. [of course, ten minutes later I find myself singing the chorus from that damn song despite myself...]
Kacey Musgraves - star-crossed. On the one hand, I wanted to jump to her defense when the idiot Grammy people excluded this new album from the Country Album of the Year category because they deemed it to be outside of that genre, and instead put it in the Best Pop Vocal Album category. But then I actually listened to the album, and its pretty much a pop breakup album. I mean, it's not like a Britney pop album or something, but more like some confessional and gentle stuff from Stevie Nicks or J. Lo or Lana Del Rey or Olivia Newton John or something. Actually, I just heard a little of the Harry Styles thing when I just listened again, his pop-roc-70's groove thing that he did so well on his last album. It isn't bad by any means, but it's also just nothing like what I expected to hear (or wanted to hear, I suppose, especially when she uses autotune despite a great voice). Those other three albums were vital, even as they pushed the country genre outside of its boundaries through the years, but this one just feels like a bummer to be sad to. "there is a light" features some jazzy ass flute solos and a quick bongo beat, along with an almost rap near the end, which is entertaining for being weird. "justified" is the hit with 21.9 million streams (with "breadwinner" right behind at 16 million - which is even more pop-forward).
I like the driving video. That is clever. It isn't a bad song, and although the chorus is killer with the back-and-forth confusion of a breakup, the song overall is just not that interesting to me. That is what most of this album does for me, leave me with disinterest. It would be like if someone told me that I should watch a documentary about Kanye and Kim splitting up or something. I'm sure there would be bits that would be interesting, but I don't need to go through someone else's heartbreak for an entire album. I don't see any song on here gaining pantheon status among her other great tunes. It feels a lot longer than the 47 minute run-time. Although the Spanish-language song at the end is kinda cool. Would have been better at the end of a country-pop masterpiece. Hopefully she forgets old Ruston and marries Bruno Mars and we get country-pop-smart-lyrics-dance-party perfection again.
Drake - Certified Lover Boy. Nope. I don't even know if it is worth writing a full-on review of this garbage, but I swear this album seems like it is nine hours long. It's just bad and boring from start to finish. "Way 2 Sexy" is the only song I remember after hearing the album a few times, and that is because it steals from "I'm Too Sexy" and Right Said Fred should be pleased. But each song is just, like, him talking over a mediocre beat with a bit of singing here and there. I was hoping "7am on Bridle Path" was going to be about the road on Austin, I had friends who grew up on that street. Instead it's just him yapping in a boring way for four minutes. He has no flow, no timing, no sense of how to fit into the beat. I hate it.
Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real - A Few Stars Apart. So weird to hear him sing. I'd have to expect that he sings like his dad on purpose, because my singing voice is definitely different from my father's singing voice. And yet when "We'll Be Alright" kicks off, it 100% sounds like Willie is picking the guitar and gently singing towards a kind resolution. I'm sure that is for a reason - trade on his dad's fame to hook people in, and then make them realize that he is damn good on his own. That is where I am on this right now. These songs are good in their own right for sure. "Perennial Bloom (Back to You)" is the hit so far, with a jangly rock sound like he's been playing with the Jayhawks.
"summer seed become my perennial bloom" is a great line. Good tune. "Leave 'em Behind" is another great one on here, makes me think of the Indigo Girls with a banjo. This album cooks.
St. Vincent - Daddy's Home. I was kind of excited about this disc, as my interest in her has built over the years, but I don't love anything about it. It's almost a lounge act album. The stream count agrees with my dismissal, as multiple tunes on here just barely crack a million streams. Pitchfork gave it 6.7 stars, which is just barely better than they gave the Peppa Pig album, which will always be the measuring stick for me now that I know about it. I especially do not like "My Baby Wants a Baby," which rips off that Sheena Eaton song about her baby taking the morning train. Pitchfork calls that track the standout, which tells you why they are dumb. The only interesting thing about the album is that it delves into the fact that her dad was arrested for a stock manipulation scheme and he got freaking 12 years. That's a legit sentence. Like, the asshole rapist swimmer kid in California got like 20 minutes in jail but this dude got a short lifetime. Top streamer is the first song - hallmark of a less than great album by a top artist - so I'll give you #2 - "The Melting of the Sun." 4.8 million.
Definitely has the funky organ from the 70's whipping it up, and then her goofy wig powering through the video. You get the scene she's going for. Don't love it. And that opening track isn't terrible, just kind of melty, weird classic rock. I wanted to try to see her show at ACL this year, despite not loving this album, but didn't get to make that happen. Oh well. I definitely won't be retaining this album for more future listens.
J. Cole - The Off-Season. I've never really given Cole a good chance. I blame Shea Serrano for that, although its likely not really his fault. But every time Shea talks about J. Cole he disses him. He writes wholearticles about it. And because I think Shea Serrano is an amazing dude and funny writer, I bought into that propaganda. But this album is genuinely really good. I don't know if this is different rap than what he did in the past, so that I can accommodate both a "Shea is right that Cole was bad in 2015" and "Cole got better and now is good" viewpoint, but either way, I think the flow on this album is really good, along with positive messaging and good beats. And in the intro he drops a line about "look how everybody clapping when you 30 song album does a measly 30-thou." That shade is delicious - I hope that Drake was sad when he heard that. But he also drops a line shouting out Eric Clapton and then says his pockets will ever fatten. Here and there, he drops a clunker (the one where he raps about people being so "Kane" they started singing like "Danity" makes me cringe each time). Regardless, I think this thing is very good overall. His 21 Savage track is legit enjoyable, with a great sample-based beat and a laid back vibe, and that one just barely beats out the Lil Baby track for streaming dominance (128 million versus 125 million), but I think you should peep one that doesn't have a top collaborator. "the . climb . back" is third place at 99 million streams. (and yes, they are all given annoying names like that).
That video is obviously home made, as none of the lyrics match his mouth... But the song is solid rapping and a good beat. An introspective sounding track, that still blasts out some brags and disses to other rappers. Its a very full song - he goes through all sorts of topics. I like it. The Lil Baby one has a good beat and flow as well, and I like the story-telling about the time Cole had a gun pulled on him (although Baby's verse is uninteresting and kind of hard to parse). I also really like the second verse of "let . go . my . hand" where he talks about his son growing up and how he struggled to do the same back in the day, and then admits to loving Puffy when he was a kid. Good immersive flow right there. I'll hold this album.
Olivia Rodrigo - Sour. I know that I am very late to this review, but her star was rising in the pop circles before I was paying attention and then the ACL lineup got released. When the lineup gets released I get sucked into listening to that stuff and can't make time to hear regular releases for a while. But, I will admit to this album having a special place in my heart for a few reasons. First, my middle kid came to me and proactively asked if I would like to hear it after she realized that I didn't know about it. Which was deeply cool - to have her come to me with something that she liked and actively seek a connection on music. And I dug her comments about it too, as she was like, "oh yeah, she gets rocking here, like she's mad, but I don't think she's really mad." Anyway, now I'm forced to forever remember this album because of that one thirty minute moment in time. Second, in a highly entertaining moment for me, the DJ warming up the crowd for AG Club at ACL Weekend One used a track from this album to hype the crowd before that show started. Which, at first, seemed entirely out-of-place, until I noticed that all of the girls around me where yelling the lyrics in each other faces and the crowd was jumping up and down and jamming out to it the same way that they were doing to Kendrick and Future and the other hype tracks being used. I came home from that day and just started yelling "GOOD FOR YOUUUUUU" in my daughters' faces to further connect with them. Dad of the year stuff right there. Here, you need this song right now to feel the pleasures of it too. "good 4 u," with 977.5 million streams (holy hell! That is a LOT!):
Great kiss off song. Pure pop rock nugget of teenage angst and power chords. Feels like something Avril Lavigne would have tried to put out 20 years ago. But like with all of her songs, the lyrics are on point. I also deeply dig the little pause right before the "aaahhhhhhhh" part around 1:50. "traitor" is a freaking great song. Like, if I was 15 and all up in my feelings about a girl, I would tattoo that thing on my heart. "deja vu" is likewise great. "drivers license" is the biggest hit of all of them, with more than 1.1 billion streams. That is kind of amazing. That song is when I'm feeling the Taylor Swift vibes from her - again, lyrically, its a great one. She also puts off some Billie Eilish vibes on some of these tunes. Superficially, I feel like I am not supposed to like this stuff, and yet it strikes a real chord in me each time I work through it again. The album closer is a sad one with her hoping that some kids are okay despite their shit parents. It's a really good album that I'll keep up with.
Lord Huron - Long Lost. I'm a sucker for the Lord Huron experience. When they last came to ACL I made a point to go back to the second weekend's show because the first weekend was so striking. It's beautiful music that straddles a line between indie and Americana and country. This one is beautiful again. I thought "Mine Forever" was going to be the top performer (because I think it is so damn pretty), but it ends up being third, behind second-place "I Lied," which stars ACL performer Allison Ponthier, and first place "Not Dead Yet." 13.7 million streams.
The driving beat in that one is great. "You look like hell and you smell like death" is a money shot diss. I also like the little asides in this one, like the dude who comes in and asks if the lady who had just been speaking was talking in "French or sumpin?" In addition to Americana-ey stuff, its got a dreamy 50's kitsch to it that is kind of fun. Some Dude tripping to "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds" vibes. And then the final song is a 14 minute trip into oblivion (that I could actually do without). But still, the album is another good one that I'll keep.
If I see more shows like this, Chvrches may become an actual favorite band. Really great, high energy show.
The funny thing that my wife observed during the show is how weird this band looks as a group. You've got the pretty, tiny Lauren Mayberry out front, belting out the lyrics, dancing around, changing her outfit every handful of songs. And then behind her there are these two heavy-set dudes in all black who look like they are roadies who got picked to come out and play with the girl. They barely interact, although the two dudes come out from behind their synths sometimes to wail on their guitar or bass. But otherwise they're back there in the shadows, while the spotlight stays focused on Mayberry. And there was a drummer for the live show, which was a good addition to give some more ooomph to the tracks.
They did a great job of including the best songs from the new album and a lot of the best tunes from the prior albums. The show flowed very well. And, at least from my perspective, their tunes sounded amazing. I bet I leaned over to my wife four times during the show to show her the goosebumps rolling up my forearms.
The best part was definitely the three song encore, when they played "Asking for a Friend" (a new favorite from the new album), "The Mother We Share," and "Clearest Blue." Hell yeah. Sent me out of the show floating on a cloud. My only quibble is that I wish I had been closer to the show for those last three songs so that it wouldn't have looked so weird to jump around and pump my fists in the air as I sang "YOU STILL MATTER!" to the world.
Before I release the bile, let me just say that seeing Willie again was wonderful, and Chris Stapleton is still one of my favorite dudes to see live.
BUT, can I whine for a sec? Well, yes, I can, because this is my blog dammit. When the tickets went on sale for this music festival, here is what the poster looked like:
Which is, holy hell! Willie, Stapleton, Sturgill, Avetts, Lucinda, Margo, Yola - I'd pay to go see any of those folks just about any day of the week! And so I did! I can't recall what I paid for the tickets, but I think it was a lot. But in my mind, this was like buying ACL tickets where I was about to get to see a full day of outrageously great shows! Sweet! Any reasonable person looking at that poster would expect that the Festival involved all of those artists, right?
But then I start hearing radio ads where they are pimping tickets to go see Willie and Family, Chris Stapleton, Ryan Bingham, and Yola. And I thought to myself, pretty nice of them to be saying Yola instead of some of those bigger bands on the lineup. Didn't think that meant that the whole poster was a LIE! Until like two days before when they released the set times, and only then did I realize that the poster was a damn dirty trick! Nothing on there says that only some of these bands will be there. It 100% made me believe that I was buying a ticket for those artists. Wish I knew a lawyer.
Anyway, here are my thoughts about the actual music. Yola was good, but I felt terrible for her. The sun was directly on the stage, and being that this was late August, it was a billion degrees in there. She carried on, and her voice is so damn lovely, but her show at the Scoot Inn a few years back was much more enjoyable. The Ryan Bingham show was honestly just boring. I know he's a great songwriter and all, but it was literally just him and his guitar on stage in the blaring heat. After the fun energy of Yola, he was just flat. We wandered off to find a drink.
Stapleton freaking crushed it. If you haven't seen him before, then you are doing yourself a disfavor. Dude can belt it, he writes killer songs, and his skill on the guitar is full-on rockstar worthy. He jammed out. And while it doesn't really change anything musically, it makes me happy that his wife is on stage with him and singing harmonies. Dig that. Then Willie bopped out with son Lukas in tow, and they played a solid set. I didn't especially want to hear Lukas play his originals (although I really like his new album and would dig a full set from him now) but that was just because I really wanted to see Willie doing his thing. Willie looks ancient, and performed sitting down, but he still sounds pretty solid. I hope that won't be the last time I get to see him, but if is was, I'm glad he did a good show with a bunch of the classics. We didn't stay to the bitter end to see everyone else take the stage and do a big singalong, but it was a fun day anyway.
Young M.A. - Off the Yak. I really like this album. Not sure entirely why, but I think it has to do with the fact that when I hear this lady rapping, talking shit about everyone and laying waste to any sort of gender norms, she reminds me of Snoop from The Wire. And I thought Snoop from the Wire was a freaking badass. I remember tiny bits and pieces from that show, but one scene that will never leave my mind is the scene when she is shopping for a nail gun to murder people with, and the Home Depot guy is just explaining the options as though Snoop is a construction contractor. Hilarious moment. Especially when she hands the guy a wad of cash instead of going to the register. Perfect scene.
You can't even understand what the hell she is saying for half of it, but it's a great scene. "you earned that bump like a muffugga just keep that shit." Amazing.
Anyway, Young MA is not actually Snoop from the Wire. She's Katorah Kasanova Marrero, a neck-tatted New Yorker who will call herself the Queen of New York in the same song as telling you to suck her dick. It's tough and street-smart stuff, which is somewhat rare from a female rapper. Instead of rapping about sex and her body, like a Megan or Cardi or Kim, she's spitting about thugging the same way that the dudes do. And I dig that. "Hello Baby," with its stop/start woozy beat, is the hit at 13 million streams.
I don't know Fivio Foreign, but I like his verse on there. Nothing special to that track, kind of a regular brag rap track, but I still enjoy the delivery. I really like "Don Diva," even though its another brag track, but just because the rhymes make me grin and the beat is great. "Klub Stories" is also an entertaining set of lyrics. The track that I thought was going to be the hit of the album is one of the lowest stream count-havers, which shows you what I know, but "Maaan (Got Me F'ed Up)" has the best beat on here and a slick flow. Love when she derides the listener as a clown. Nothing on here smells like a huge hit or anything, but the whole album is a good unit.
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - Georgia Blue. I love many things about this album. If you missed the impetus for its creation, Jason Isbell tweeted that if the Georgia electorate would "go blue," and elect the two Democrats running for Senator in 2020, then he would make an album of exclusively Georgia cover songs as a thank you. So, for one, I love that this is like the payout from a bet made to no one in particular. Second, I love the fact that it includes not one, but two R.E.M. songs. Being that they are my favorite band (despite no longer existing), I am a big fan of the fact that they get the bigger/better treatment on this album of classic Georgia songs. I also really like the education I've received here. If you would have asked me beforehand to name Georgia bands/artists, I would have named R.E.M., Black Crowes, B 52s, and the Indigo Girls, before having to resort to rap artists for the next 58 that I know. But now I know that James Brown, Otis Redding, and Gladys Knight & the Pips are also from Georgia. Those are some big time artists to claim for that state! I also should have remembered the Allman Brothers when thinking through who was from Georgia. I'm bummed that the B-52s didn't make the list of cover tracks on here! Finally, I love the collaborators they get involved here. Brandi Carlile singing the Indigo Girls, Chris Thile doing his mandolin thing on "Nightswimming," and several of the others who I don't know sound great. I think next time he needs to do one where they do these rock and roll renditions of the rappers though. Americana T.I., Outkast, Future, Ludacris, etc. etc. would be amazing. The top track is the other R.E.M. tune - "Driver 8" with 490k streams. Love it.
Great cover. I love how the change in vocals bring out the actual lyrics in a way that they are not so obvious in the original, so that I can feel foolish for all of the incorrect lyrics I memorized when I was eight. Also, the Allman Brothers tune is a hot damn jam. Inject it into my veins. If I'm going to gripe at any of this, I'd say that increasing the speed of "Nightswimming" is a mistake to me. And again, no B-52's is lame. Gimme "Rock Lobster" and make weird dolphin noises immediately. Fun disc, will keep it.
Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend. Kinda disappointing to me. I really like these guys, and they put on a sweet live show as well, but this album takes a step back from some of their harder, crunchier elements and goes with a softer, tender sound that leaves me looking for the next tune. Like, "The Beach II" is a shoegaze song. What are we doing here? And yes, I know they get loud and insistent with "Play the Greatest Hits" but that doesn't make for the cohesive album that I was to hear right here. More just like they are doing that one song to make fun of my take on this album and be intentionally brash and annoying. I think "Smile" is the top track on it, the one that sounds most like what I was expecting when I found their new album.
Good groove, nice song. But then you get "Safe From Heartbreak" right afterwards with a triple layer of harmonic vocals and a lovely little guitarwork in the background, and it feels like I lose the thread on the album. "The Last Man on Earth" smells like The Beatles for a bit. I don't get what they were aiming for here. Maybe I'm just too old to get it or something, but I liked it better when they just jammed.
Tyler, The Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost. Right after this came out, I was in the Chick Fil A drivethru with my kids and middle kid asked if we could listen to the new Tyler, the Creator. After mentally debating pulling up an album I'd never heard before that might have some bad stuff going on it, I went for it. The first few songs kinda bang! And then the album shifts into 48 other styles and it loses me entirely. The hit so far is one of the wack ones that's half R&B. "WUSYANAME"
It's kind of funny, telling her she looks malnourished and all, but it very much sounds like some mid-90's Boyz 2 Men track. Don't love it. But, like "CORSO" brings the thunder both in the beat and the rhymes. "LEMONHEAD" too. "JUGGERNAUT" is fun. But the goofy "Sweet/I Thought You Wanted to Dance" throws off the whole thing, especially when followed by the weird diatribe by his mom. Of course, Pitchfork gave this album an 8.4 and Best New Music. One weird thing about the disc is that most of the songs are super short, except for two bloated tracks that are 8:35 and 9:48 long. Blech. Parts of it are enjoyable, but as a total unit, this isn't for me.
I went to a different show at ACL Live last night and it dawned on me that I had not reviewed this show. Lot of good it does you now! But I'll still wholeheartedly recommend going to see these guys if you get the chance. I got to see them play at ACL a few years back, and it was one of those experiences where your jaw drops open and it's hard to comprehend how musicians can be quite that skilled on their instruments. Between Chris Thile and these dudes, you'll lose any aspirations you might have had for playing a stringed instrument when you see how bad ass these guys are. Also, the dude is funny - "Dust in a Baggie" is not only a burner of a bluegrass track, but it's also clever. Go check them out if you get the chance.
Yoooooooo! It's time to get to prognosticatin'! Last year, I didn't really get the time to make my normal posts about who I thought might come along to the Fest, and even if I had, I have no clue how I would have judged any likely candidates. Nobody was touring. Many new albums had been postponed. Coachella was being punted yet again. NO way to have any idea who would be showing up in Austin in October.
And even if I had made guesses, I more than likely would have failed miserably in guessing the folks who ended up showing up. George Strait? Billie Eilish again when she had just been here? DaBaby? Rufus Du Sol again? Duran Duran back from the grave? Nope, nope, nope. Hell, I'm sure the folks at C3 didn't even know how to fill out the lineup in the first place, much less while replacing artists left and right, even up to a few days before the shows kicked off! Brutal.
Trying to predict what will happen in 11 months is almost always a fools errand, but let's have some fun with it anyway. I'm not going to go in to the wish list, because that never seems to work out. Just know that if Springsteen, a Led Zeppelin reunion, an R.E.M. reunion, an Oasis reunion, Madonna, or Rolling Stones could roll through, I'd be all over it.
Look in his eyes when he sings "And now you do what they told ya."
Rage Against the Machine. Their big tour from 2020 was postponed, and I was predicting at the time that they'd be a headliner for ACL. AND I'D FREAKING BE ALL ABOUT THIS. Time to break out the old mosh pit moves and scream along. We'll see though. Their tour starts March 31 in El Paso, ending in NYC, without ever coming anywhere else in Texas. So that sounds to me like a band who will be announcing a handful of Texas shows when they announce a trip to Austin in early October. Lock it in.
Other big tours that I just don't see being here - Backstreet Boys, Billie Eilish, Morgan Wallen, Kenny Chesney, DaBaby.
Olivia Rodrigo. Feels like the biggest new pop star out there, and one who would hop into the Miley Cyrus or Billie Eilish slot from this last year. But she has no tour announced as of now, and this article makes it sound like her TV commitments are going to keep her off the road. Too bad. I'd actually like to see her if she could come through. Fully ready to mosh to "good 4 u." Doubt it.
Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was just telling a friend how these guys have been getting crazy radio play all of a sudden. Feels like every commute ends up with at least one RHCP song in it. And that day that I had that conversation, I literally heard "Fire" and "Otherside" on the drive home on different radio stations. It was "Around the World" this morning. Just weird. I don't actually believe that the ACL bookers somehow coordinated a radio blitz to go with an announcement they may make in 7 months, but it just piqued by interest. Anyway, their tour (WITH Frusciante back in the group!) kicks off June 4 in Spain, comes to the US in late July, and ends on September 18 in Dallas (with no other Texas dates). That sounds like the perfect way to come down to Austin in early October! I'd love it! I'm sure some people would be annoyed with the 90's Bro Rock-ness if both RHCP and RAM were here, but I say SCREW THEM! Feels good.
Taylor Swift. I figured there was no way she was coming to ACL - she just feels way too big to get for the Fest - but since she's going to be on tour, I figured I'd take a look. But, although the Internet says she'll be touring in 2022, her website still says that she's sad to say she can't do the Lover tour. Feels like she's positively bursting with music to be played on tour - Lover, folklore, and evermore have all been released since she last toured - but who knows when it will come about. Doubt it.
Chris Stapleton. Just saw him in August (jammed, yet again) and he's playing here in Austin again tonight. So he'd be fresh and ready to go for a late '22 date in Austin. His tour takes a big break from December 11 to April 20, and then ends in mid-August in Ohio. if he releases some new music, then maybe that would charge him up for more touring, but as it is, that seems like a good time for him to take a touring break and get some new material in the can. Doubtful.
Bad Bunny. The Fest has aimed at the Spanish language audience recently, so this could make some sense. He's playing Astroworld festival in November of 2021, and then his tour rolls through El Paso, Hidalgo (the Valley), Houston, and Dallas at the start of 2022. So no San Antonio or Austin? That seems suss. But the tour ends, as of now, in April. Maybe that is because he wants to leave the entire festival season open to jam at the big four? He played Coachella in 2019, so he can rock a Fest. Feels like a good fit, but I don't have any good evidence here. Medium Level Defcon.
Elton John. Feels like homie has been on this Farewell Yellow Brick Road Final Tour I Promise For Real This Time thing for a decade. He's in Dallas and Houston in January of 2022. I bet he'll be huge at the Fargodome in Fargo, ND. Why in the hell do they get a date and Austin and San Antonio get he shaft. That is BS. Hmm. No dates yet announced for 2022 ACL, but his tour is interesting. Plays Arlington on Sept. 30 and then Nashville on October 2, before a big gap in this schedule before October 21 in Vancouver. That would be the perfect space to play two weekends of Austin City Damn Limits. That would be freaking so damn cool. I'm feeling kind of good about this one as of right now. Warmer than Luke.
Justin Bieber. Nah. Plays Austin at the new Moody Center on April 27. That is too close to the Festival to come back again. Nah.
Lorde. After listening to her new album a few times, I would not be excited about this one. Tour kicks off in late Feb, and ends, as of now, in late June without any dates in Texas. Dammit. That seems suspiciously like she's going to announce new dates that involve both Lolla and ACL. Hope that is wrong, but it also feels right. Ugggghhhhh.
My Chemical Romance. Another tour that was supposed to kick off and reunite a band, but then got COVID-ed. The rescheduled tour rolls from mid-March to mid-October, including late September dates in Houston and Dallas. Hmmm. Strangely there are gaps for the October weekends. They play Friday of the first weekend of October but not the rest of that weekend, same with the second weekend of October. If that is when ACL is, then they could play Sat. or Sun. of either weekend. I've never seen them live and would freaking love to. Absolute guilty pleasure band for me. But having shows in Vegas and California during the weekends of the Fest seems less likely to come right, especially for a band that isn't a MAJOR draw. I'll predict No.
The Weeknd. His website says that the tour dates are moving and will commence in summer of 2022, and that he won't be playing arenas but only stadiums because he wants to do something bigger and special. Hard to know, but it kind of feels like he's got his eye on something other than festivals. Nah.
Adele. Huh. She announced two dates for next summer, both at Hyde Park London, on July 1 and 2. Nothing else. New album drops later this month, and I could totally see her being the hot ticket to get for all of the Fests. But at the same time, I could see her not wanting to stand on a hot ass, dusty Texas stage to save her voice from the ACL crud. I'd love to see her sometime, but I don't think this would happen.
BTS or BLACKPINK. I know these guys are gigantic K-Pop groups, but I just wouldn't see the draw? Well, that isn't true. I could see a massive draw, those bands are huge, but I also don't see those bands agreeing to play in a hot dusty field for the normal ACL crowd. They feel like they need a bigger stage for dancing and all 38 members to have space.
Silk Sonic. This is the Bruno Mars/ Anderson.Paak supergroup thing. Would be an awesome thing to see live, I think, but no tour announced. We'll see.
Coldplay. The tour kicks off in Costa Rica on March 18, and makes it to Houston and Dallas by early May. No dates in Austin or San Antonio. Which is always so damn annoying. San Antonio is the 7th largest city in America by population. Austin is #10. I get that Houston and DFW are larger than both of those, but Tampa isn't! Atlanta isn't! Gimme the big shows, yo! Interestingly, Coldplay have a Lollapalooza-sized gap in the schedule. Lolla is July 28 to 31 next year, and the tour schedule shows a gap between July 20 and August 5. That would give them the time to bop over from Paris, jam Chicago, then head back to Belgium. And then the tour ends at the Rock in Rio Festival on September 10, which would leave plenty of time to come to Austin and get ready to play two weekends at Zilker Park. Hmmm. Huh. I had no clue that they had just released a new album in October. That is weird. I guess it slipped under my radar during the ACL time. But yeah, with a new album to support, a world tour that ends right in time, a gap for Lolla, and a deep desire by yours truly to finally see them, this could work out. I'm feeling pretty good about it.
Ed Sheeran. Like other major pop stars, I had always figured these types of artists would be an easy and quick no, but then we've had major pop stars show up in the past few years. Still neither of the two mega-pop stars (I see Beyonce and Taylor on their own level, personally) but Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello and Billie Eilish and Miley seem like on the same level as Sheeran. Anyway, his tour never leaves Europe as its currently scheduled. And it plays right through Lolla. it ends on September 25, so he'd have time to bop on over the pond and gently melt our faces, but I don't see it.
Eminem. I would not be excited about this one, after his last lame lip-synch fest at the Fest a few years back, but some website said to expect a tour in 2022 that jumps off from his planned performance at the Super Bowl. His website says no upcoming events, so I'll go with a no on this one.
Kacey Musgraves. It hurts me to say that I'm less interested about her coming back, as she's had a good and an excellent show at ACL that I've seen over the years, but I don't love the new album. Her tour kicks off in January, hits Dallas in February, and ends on February 20. Her schedule shows a slot at Primavera in June of 2022, but otherwise nothing after Feb. No good date making me lean either way.
Kendrick Lamar. The only thing on his calendar are three dates this weekend in Vegas at something called Day N Vegas 2021. Nothing else. Like Eminem, something I read said to expect new music and a tour from him to jump off after his Super Bowl halftime performance. There were rumors that the new album would release on October 22, but not so much. Dunno. Until more is announced, I don't see anything giving me hope to see him again.
Matchbox 20. I know, strong left turn there, from huge artists to a 90's redux thing, but I read that they were going to do a reunion tour and they'd fit into the box on the ACL poster previously held by bands like Live, Bruce Hornsby, Billy Idol, The Breeders, or Deftones. Anyway, they kick off in May of 2022, and run through Dallas and the Woodlands in June/July. They play right through the Lolla weekend, and end their tour on August 7. Nothing in that schedule gives me any idea that they'd legitimately be here, so for now I'll go with no.
Lady Gaga. Another major pop star who I have no reason to believe would show up for a Fest like ACL. But she's apparently planning on rescheduling her tour that got dropped by COVID, so I guess it could happen? No new dates announced though, so I'm going to stick with my gut and say no.
Shawn Mendes. I saw him a few years ago, and remember being pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed some of the show. His tour kicks off in March, bouncing around Europe until moving stateside by June. BUT, he actually plays a show in Austin, at the new Moody Center, on October 3, 2022, so I think that is a hard no. But hey, Austin gets a real show! Check it out!
Steely Dan. I know, as a middle-aged white man who likes music, I'm supposed to love Steely Dan. I think some of their songs are jams, but the majority of what they have going on missed me. But, they're throwing down a tour (despite half of the band being dead now) that will make it through ACL Live on June 5 and 6. With those two shows already on the calendar, I'm thinking this is a negative. I don't see them coming right back after two nights in town.
Any other ideas for big touring bands? That was all I found after reading a few articles about the expected biggest tours of 2022. I gotta say, I lineup that included Rage, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Coldplay would make me deeply happy. Maybe then we get Bad Bunny and Lorde and, uh, LilBaby, on the other stages during their sets, and all the kids can go be happy while the olds get to jam out.
You must immediately go watch this video right now. Kim Jong Un's face, as he drums, is killing me.
Blue Stones - Hidden Gems. This is a disc that I found before the ACL lineup was announced, so it was shunted back into the new music queue to be dealt with only after I heard all of the ACL stuff. But, I love a few of these songs, so I have used them as motivational jams during that period as well. "Shakin' Off the Rust" is the hit on the album, and I like it too, but "Spirit" is the unhinged jam that I never knew I needed. I think this album came to me because I listen to Royal Blood and cleopatrick and their ilk, but it works really well. This is "Spirit," with 2.4 million streams.
That combination of fast/loud, followed by quiet/building, resulting in the kind of song that should make you want to buy a glass greenhouse, build it in your backyard, fill it full of speakers, blast this song, and then spin in circles with sledgehammers in each hand and see what happens. And the little bridge turns it a little bouncy and danceable, before the last killer quiet section erupts. Loving it. I especially love the little jump starts just before each of the chorus launches. It's right up there with that "Some Mutts (Can't Be Muzzled)" track from Amyl and the Sniffers as a motivational jam. The disc is full of more of this, very good rock and roll based on just a guitar and a drum set. Some are more poppy, some are almost funky enough for dancing, but mostly they just blast you with the power. "Grim" has a second where it sounds like Kendrick Lamar stops by the studio. Every once in a while, they stray from that recipe, like the less enjoyable "L.A. Afterlife" that is a little cheesy, or some of the effects on "Careless," but otherwise this album makes me happy.
Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever. I heard from several people who saw her ACL show these last few weeks and thought it was amazing. I am personally very glad that I skipped it. Her show two years ago was very underwhelming to me, and this new album is likewise pretty weak. When you are listening to something for the first time and you pause what you are doing to whisper "what in the hell is this crap?" then that is not a great sign. Musically, most of this is deeply uninteresting. So spare as to feel tossed off. And when combined with her whisper-tone voice, it's just too easy for it all to fade into the background as something my mind can just cut off from the consciousness stream. "Happier Than Ever" certainly flips that script by making unenjoyable noises instead. But like, the opening track is just a very basic synth note, played repeatedly, with barely anything else involved other than her mumbling over the top. I think I'm just the wrong demographic here. I might like the Bassa Nova song the most out of any of them because its finally a little interesting? Of course the album has a zillion streams because she's huge, but bleh... Top track is "Therefore I Am" at 492.2 million.
Oh yeah, that is probably the best song on the album, the masses are right. But its because it sounds like the old Billie, and she looks like the old Billie, and its playful and harsh and bouncy in a way most of this album is just woozy and blah. I do like when the subtitles just start saying entirely different words than what she is singing. That is entertaining. But for the album as a whole? Nope.
Sarah Jarosz - Blue Heron Suite. I'm a sucker for Jarosz. Every new album that comes out is another chapter in an enjoyable book that I hope will continue until I am old. The combination of deftly played Americana and bluegrass, salved by her lovely voice and timeless lyrics, it always hits right on me. I've mentioned this before, but my favorite Pandora station for home, one that will almost always make the wife happy, still tickle my fancy, and get compliments from guests, was initially based on her. Just so damn good. This album is a little odd because it is full of interludes and call-backs to earlier songs, instead of just being a linear album it feels more like a meditation. It almost feels weird to pick a certain song to paly, as it removes that track from the cohesive mesh of the whole album, but "Morning" is the top streamer at 1.3 million streams.
The imagery of her being there on the shoreline, holding out her hand is so nice. Makes me wish I would have made my kids walk the beach with me in the mornings when we go to the beach. I also love in "Blue Heron," when she sings the words "blue heron," because her voice soars right then in a wonderful way. Another great little album.
Black Keys - Delta Kream. I want to go to the little drive-in joint on the cover so bad. Sadly, it no longer exists, that picture was from the 70's. This is an album of blues covers, and it works really well. Even when these guys are playing their own tracks, they pretty much sound like old blues covers anyway. That's what makes them awesome. "Crawling Kingsnake" was the initial single and the power tune - 6 minutes of slinky, swaggering guitar hero action. That is the top track, with just over six million streams.
I personally dig that they made the video go along with the full-length track, instead of the little radio edit they made at the end of the album. The whole album, and that video, feel like they are paying proper homage to the influences that have made them insanely rich over the course of their career. They've obviously turned those influences into something new and great, but instead of trying to act like they hit a home run, they're showing here how they started on third base and owe some forebearers a debt. I dig that. Definitely an enjoyable album.
I realize that this is about 10 months late, but it was tucked away in my drafts and I figured I might as well let it see the light of day.
I love to find good new stuff through looking at these lists, but I also have to roll my eyes sometimes when I see the rankings. Was hoping that NPR might hew to my tastes, but I'm afraid I made a major mistake.
SAULT - Untitled (Black Is). Just the title of the album makes me cringe. But now I get what they are selling, this is something that was made in response to and arising out of the BLM protests this year. I've tried a few songs, and yeah, I get that this matches up to the importance of this movement. Kinda funky, definitely an important message. If Erykah Badu and Janelle Monae aren't the voices on this one, then congrats to whoever this is (it is all uncredited and I couldn't figure it out after 20 seconds of searching). I'm glad to find out about this one.
Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters. Nah. I tried to like this one. I get that it was fun to have her come out of hiatus after many moons, but the critical slobbering about this one can't elevate it for me. Not interested. At least I've heard of this one!
Lido Pimienta - Miss Columbia. This is where you know the people at NPR are getting cute. The top song on this album has 1.9 million streams. I'm sorry, but you're not telling me that this album has had any sort of large-scale "Album of the Year" type impact on a large swath of the populace with those kinds of numbers. I know this isn't all about streaming numbers, but it's hard to imagine this being an album to offer into the pantheon of history when no one even cared about it when it came out. Also, I don't know what she is singing about, so I'm just jealous. Pretty voice though!
Pheobe Bridgers - Punisher. YES! I called it, that "serious" critics would be giving the love to this and the Bolt Cutters. I liked this album (it's just dark all the time, at a time when I want something lighter).
Spillage Village - Spilligion. I have no clue what I just typed. But, just to be clear, NPR is claiming that this was the top rap/hip-hop album of 2020? Bigger than RTJ4? Bigger than Alfredo? I don't know - I've never even heard of these cats, it just seems bold to throw that out there. And, huh. I'll buy in to it (not being better than those two just mentioned, but solid). I already think that JID is cool, and same with EarthGang, and even though I don't know the other members of this "supergroup," I can dig the jam their mashing.
Thomas Ades - Ades Conducts Ades. Mmmmkay. This is a live album of classical music? What are we doing here? It is probably wonderful music and all, but the first song sounds like free-form jazzy piano weirdness with an orchestra assaulting the pianist here and there. I just can't imagine that the actual number 6 album of the year would have less than 10k streams for almost all of its songs. The top track has 25k streams, and this is a year after release! This is just too cute for me.
Bad Bunny - YHLQMDLG. Sure. I guess this is important for some folks, and it very well may be good, but you're not going to get me to listen to Latin trap. If I don't know what is going on in the song, I'm just not going to get into it. I do like the "Girl from Ipanema" ripoff under the first song.
Nubya Garcia - Source. Jazz saxophone? Really? Top song has 1.5 million, but most are in the 200k to 300k range. Maybe NPR had a special, secret understanding of what the word "best" means to them. I just let it roll while I worked and it was kinda good. I'm sure this is beautiful to the folks who want to listen to some skeeboppin' jazzy freakout music and all, but I wouldn't go back again.
Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake. Again, really? You're saying this is the second-best rap album of 2020? I'd never even heard of it. I also think Vert is terrible, so that makes sense, but still. I looked around. HipHopDx said Freddie Gibbs' Alfredo was the top rap album. Brooklyn Vegan said the same. The Grammy went to Nas for King's Disease (and this album wasn't even nominated). Stereogum picked something called Boldy James and Sterling Toles. Billboard said Lil Baby's My Turn. Complex picked The Weeknd's After Hours. Anyway, this thoroughly mediocre album should not be considered a top album of the year if it wasn't even widely recognized as the best rap album of the year.
Waylon Payne - Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me. I take back everything bad I said about this list, as this album is really nice. Good Americana and classic-sounding country can always find a slot in my heart. And the confessional, deeply personal lyrics on this are also great. I've kept this one spinning for two days now. That being said, yet again, no one is listening to this album. It's like NPR did their best to eliminate anything that might end up being popular from their list.
After polishing off the ACL stuff, I went back and checked out my drafts to see what I had been working on and left unfinished to hammer through all those bands. One very old post was my ruminations on what "middle class" is in America right now. It looks like I read this article and then decided I needed to think through what that meant.
"According to this data, the middle class in Travis County makes between $37,000 and $124,000. I don't see how someone making $37,000 a year can be considered in the middle class, or how they would consider themselves in the middle class in Travis County.
After taxes that should net this person about $30,000 a year (after Federal income taxes, Medicare, and Social Security are all deducted). That would get this person about $2,500 a month.
I agree with the article that home ownership is expected in the middle class. A median home price in Travis County is $395,000, which at today's mortgage rate and a 30 year note, is $1,868 a month. (down to $632)
Say they forgo cable and internet, and just go with basic utilities. This website says that should average around $145 a month for a 900 square foot apartment. A house should cost more (Lord knows mine does) but lets stick with that number. (down to $487)
The lender on that home is going to require insurance, which is a difficult thing to get a good average for, but let's be conservative and say $100 a month. (down to $387)
You can try to claim that they won't have a cell phone plan, but everyone has at least a basic plan. $25. ($362 left)
You still have food (definitely more than $350 in my house per month), transportation (car payment, gas, maintenance), health insurance or out-of-pocket healthcare costs, and any sort of entertainment. "
And that was before the home prices have gone through the roof recently. Now, that $2,500 a month would be long gone to just pay for housing. Anyway, to sum up my thoughts from five years ago, $37k ain't middle class in Austin, Texas. On to the music!
Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall - The Marfa Tapes. Delightfully messy little batch of songs from these guys. I don't listen to much Lambert, haven't heard from Ingram in years, and have never heard of Randall at all, but some of these songs are really great. But they're deliberately raw - there are random background noises, and Lambert giggles in the midst of songs pretty frequently - and the recording sounds like it was done in a barn using an old jam box for the mic. Which is kinda fun - feels like I'm listening in on these folks having an old time song swap. Just one acoustic guitar, and some nice harmonies, lets you really listen to the lyrics. The top track is the opener, "In His Arms."
I gotta say, watching that video made the song even better - beautiful. Randomly just got emotional watching that. What the hell. But yeah, a lovely little song and sentiment. I like it. "Two Step Down to Texas" sounds very much like they brought in Kelly Willis to sing. I really like Randall's sound - he reminds me of David Wilcox on How Did You Find Me Here (see "Breaking a Heart" or "Amazing Grace - West Texas"). "Geraldine" is weird, because it is a "Jolene" ripoff, but it goes so far as to name-check "Jolene," so it's a knowing ripoff, which seems off-putting to me. But overall, this is a really fun album. Makes me want to go to deep west Texas and play the three chords I can play over and over.
Looks like they made a movie to go with the album, here's the trailer:
Manchester Orchestra - The Million Masks of God. These guys were at ACL a few years ago and I liked their music and the live show. Actually, I loved their live show. They bring a ton of energy and earnestness to the stage. You can hear that earnestness in this album - its the kind of stuff that starts with a whisper and then fills the entire atmosphere. Hell, just the title of the album is pretty damn earnest and arena-sized. But I really like the combination here of the singer's tenderness in his vocals, added to the frequently bombastic music behind him. "Bedhead" is the hit so far, I've been hearing it on the local Sun radio station a few times, but I'm going to give you number 2 in streams - "Keel Timing" with 951k streams (now up to 1.9 million 6 months later, I wrote this entry prior to the ACL lineup being released).
The driving start is so nice when it rolls into his whispered start, and then the whole thing just builds until it spills out into a jam. Because I've been working on the ACL bands for so long, this album has had a long time to percolate. I really like it.
Royal Blood - Typhoons. These guys have been a favorite ever since they came to ACL a few years ago as well - their 2014 eponymous album is a crushingly powerful rock hammer. And confusingly, seeing their live show, it was just two guys, singer/bassist and drummer. They sound like a full band. But the bassist uses pedals and effects and his skillz to make the bass guitar sound like there could be a guitarist involved as well. I find it fascinating. Anyway, this album is not as good as their earlier two - they leave some of the spare, DIY-sounding skuzz and add in drum machines and backing choirs and get a little more disco-glammy. The title track, in which I thought they were singing something about being freeeeeeeee, when really they were saying the word typhoon, is a prime example. It's still catchy and funky, but it just feels more polished and pop-headed. The top track on the disc is the first one (which of course I surmise is the top streamer because people tried it out, realized this was not the classic RB sound, and quit listening. But maybe not.). "Trouble's Coming" has 33.3 million streams, while "Typhoons" has 19.2 million and only one other cracks 8 figures - "Boilermaker" with just over 10 million. Here's that first one.
I like in the video getting to watch him play the bass like that. More radical bassists in the world, please. I think the annoying thing is that I actually still like this too. I want to reject that new shine on the tracks, but I still find myself grooving to the poppy disco-fied funk and wishing I could jump around to this at a live show again. Yeah, I still like the album. Dangit.
Weezer - Van Weezer. Ah, Weezer. I still like them, even as they continue churning out relatively forgetful, even though weird, experimentations. I know they love Kiss and other hair rock stuff - Rivers shouted out Kiss on the Blue Album a million years ago - but this feels like a fun experiment they thought they'd throw out regardless of how half baked these rockers sound. The first track - "Hero" - is a shoutout to classic comic book heroes, complete with over-the-top guitar solos. Actually, when I just thought about it as I listened, this seems a lot like what White Reaper is doing right now, but because I know the history of Weezer, I like this less than I do when I see it on the White Reaper folks. I'll easily say that this is better than the Teal Album or the even worse OK Human. It's just straight bubblegum "hard" rock action full of all the bombast and cheese that can be wrung out of finger-blasting a fretboard. The playcount shows that most folks were not on board, with the opening track getting 12 million streams, the third song getting 13 million, and the back half of the album mostly under a million. The top one is "The End of the Game," which for some reason makes me think it should be the title track of the second Ready Player One.
What. That little fake-ass ET guy is gross. But the poppy fun of the song comes through even if I'm finding this cheesy. Yeah, the disc is definitely better than their last couple, but it still feels like a schtick that I wish they would abandon in favor of making something that isn't quite so campy.
