Quick Hits, Vol. 369 (Alison Krauss & Union Station, Destroyer, Momma, Bon Iver)

I actually wrote this set like six months ago, before the ACL poster was released.  That poster swallows up my music listening experience for a while!  Good year of fun music though!

Alison Krauss & Union Station - Arcadia.  I have to say, I am definitely not a fan of how she spells her name.  I don't think I have ever correctly typed the proper combination of single and double-letters throughout her name, and it always ends up annoying me.  Beyond that, this album is great!  I've loved her schtick since her 1995 greatest hits collection and her versions of "Baby, Now That I've Found You" and "When You Say Nothing at All," and this keeps right in that same slipstream with a great combination of Americana, bluegrass, and vocal features from the guys in the band.  And usually, those songs helmed by the man (not sure if it is old friend Jerry Douglas or new friend Russell Moore) are some of those great rootsy, traditional tunes about like, a fire in a mine or a hangman coming for his victims.  Love it.  Low on the streaming numbers here, so the top track (other than the opener) is "Granite Mills," one of those story tunes.  339k.

"They were all burned up and killed" is a great line.  Classic sound, good lyrics, great vocals.  And the girl trying to escape the burning mill on a rope that ends up burning, that is some graphic Final Destination stuff.  Nothing to dislike here!  Short album, which is too bad, but enjoyable!

Destroyer - Dan's Boogie.  A friend pinged me the other day to see what I thought of this band, and I hadn't known that they released a new disc.  They put one out right at the start of the pandemic, and I generally liked it.  This one feels about the same.  I'm not in love with it, but it is enjoyable.  Trying to think of what to compare it to.  It is almost conversational, like he's lounging on a velvet couch in a dark bar, with a cocktail in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other, with him just saying things like "women fill out and men crumble inwards" or "God is famous for punishing" or something about how he was mistaken for a Houston Rocket.  Just a stream of consciousness meandering around in my ears.  Sometimes, the pianos take over and the guitars disappear, but other times the guitar is at the forefront.  It is honestly a confusing record, just as to what he is trying to say, if anything.  "Bologna" is the top track, with 705k streams.

The underlying tune is weird and trippy, but also kind of a fresh-sounding cruise up a beach with a little funk twisted in.  That lady singer is apparently someone named Fiver.  That video is whacky too - how to fake your own death tutorial and then the fire... I haven't disliked listening to this, but it also hasn't just fired me up.  Will probably let it go.

Momma - Welcome to my Blue Sky.  But here, here is where I want my ears to exist.  I really liked their 2022 album Household Name (especially "Medicine") and this disc gives me another jolt of 90's era grungy rock tangled up with some shoegaze flourishes and tasty riffs.  "I Want You (Fever)" is the perfect encapsulation of that jam, but the guitar riffs in "Rodeo" and "Last Kiss" nail me each time.  Give me that grimy, thick sludge all day.  And the bright, shiny, but also a little nostalgically soft, beginning to "My Old Street," that then launches into more riffage is also tight.  This album just brings me places.  Somewhat surprisingly, the streaming winner is not "I Want You (Fever)" but is instead "Ohio All The Time."  1.7 million streams.

Man, that looks really fun to jam in a field and then drink beer in the bed of a truck.  I just love the melodies and guitar tone - nothing about it is especially original, but it just feels essential nonetheless.  Funny thought for a song too, being that the band is from L.A. and now in NY.  Why are they repping gross ass Ohio?  Whatevs.  I really enjoy this one back and forth.

Bon Iver - SABLE/fABLE.  Just that album name is already so pretentious that it gets me on edge.  But it is hard to complain about the majority of these tunes.  As usual, lots of falsetto and pretty melodies weaving around under some lyrics about fear and wary curiosity.  The disc is split into two discs (well, they are labeled that way despite not actually being physical discs) with the first four songs making up SABLE, and the last nine songs comprising fABLE.  Well, the actual first song is a 12 second noise, so really SABLE is just three songs.  Mostly solo-sounding, with Justin Vernon playing guitar and singing something lovely by himself.  The top track is on that half, "S P E Y S I D E" has 37.5 million streams and sounds like classic Bon Iver.

Just beautiful guitar work to start that tune out.  So damn pretty.  And then deeply sorrowful lyrics about everything becoming soot.  I don't know why, but watching those dark cloud roll by as I listen is making me tearful.  Damn you, Justin.  And then the back half of the album goes into a more electronic direction with an experimental and expansive sound.  I don't like it as much, to be honest.  "Walk Home" is pretty good until the weird voice pops in midway through to make tweaked phrases.  "From" has a Springsteen in the 80's vibe to me.  I don't think I'll keep the whole album, but I just tucked SPEYSIDE into a mix tape.