Quick Hits, Vol. 228 (Todd Snider, Cage the Elephant, Jade Bird, Beyonce)

ACL was great fun this year, but I'm honestly a little glad it is over right about now.  Getting all of that crap together is a little stressful, especially if work takes it up a tick, which it did this year.  Happy to be back to the low stress of listening to new music and writing just a simple paragraph about it.  Also, glad to skip over something that is obviously shit - one negative of doing the ACL reviews is that even when I can tell, right away, that The Score sucks on toast, I still have to read about them and listen to them for a day to get together the material to write them up.  Where here, when I'm just trying something out, if it seriously sucks and I can stand it, I just say "this seriously sucks and I'm not listening to it."  Anyhoo!

Todd Snider - Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3.  I really wish I could have taken my friend up on some tickets to see this guy live a few months ago.  He is hilarious.  His voice is not great - he makes Robert Earl Keen sound like a real vocalist - but his lyrics are freaking funny and unexpected and weird.  His top track on this album is probably his top track because it features a more famous lyricist/singer on the track, so I'm not going to play you the one with Jason Isbell.  Instead, you get "Just Like Overnight," with 224k streams.

Comes on like a Townes Van Zandt tune, and then it continues like a John Prine tune.  Not a funny one this time, but believe me, go listen to most of his lyrics and they are twisted and funny.  Not interesting music - pretty bland guitar strumming, with maybe a little harmonica here and there, but the voice and guitar aren't why you are here.  The live album I streamed earlier this year was better than this, but still entertaining.

Cage the Elephant - Social Cues.  I'm highly annoyed that I had to miss their concert this summer when they came through town with Beck - although my friend Joseph told me that their show was pretty annoying - I don't care, I still like these dudes.  And then another friend gave me the invite to see their ACL taping the other night and I had to skip out on that too because of family commitments, and I read an Austin Chronicle article talking about how they blew the doors off of the place.  Dammit.  As for this album, I don't think it is as good as their last one - "Night Running" with Beck is pretty catchy, but not great.  "Ready to Let Go" is pretty good, as is the frenetic "Broken Boy."  This disc just seems softer than their prior music, and I liked that harder edge better.  "Ready to Let Go" has more streams, but "Social Cues" is currently more popular, so I'll give you that one.  13.5 million streams.

That wavery little piano thing makes me think of The Cars.  I think that is the Cars - Midnight Oil used an effect like that a long time ago as well, but I think I'm thinking Cars here.  Whatever, just an OK tune.  How I feel about the whole album - it keeps popping back up in my queue and I don't hate it, but I'm always kind of hoping for something else to hurry up and come on.

Jade Bird - Jade Bird.  You may have heard the first track from this album a few times, its been on the radio around town after she killed SXSW and everyone fell in love with her. Won the prize for upcoming talent from the fest in 2018.  "Lottery" currently has 15.1 million streams.

Her voice is great - can go from a pretty, plaintive, warbled tunefulness to a full-on blast.  And the lyrics are catchy as hell and pretty solid.  Beautiful song.  The next one - "I Get No Joy" is a little more brassy and in the face, as is the other single I hear on the radio, "Uh Huh."  I prefer the former.  Overall, this is a really nice album, her voice shines and she can do a few good turns of phrase with her lyrics.  I'd like to see her play live sometime.

Beyonce - Lemonade.  I'm well aware that this is like a three year old album by now, but because it was exclusive to Tidal for years, I never got the chance to actually hear it.  Somewhat surprisingly, to myself at least, I really like it a lot.  I think it also helps to know some of the background on the album - explains the multiple references to "Becky with the good hair" and the pure anger on the Jack White track.  But "Formation" is not only a very cool, odd beat, but the lyrics are great too.  "Hold Up" is also a great song.  "Sorry" and "Daddy Lessons" are also cool.  Her beautiful voice in "All Night" just reverberates around in my skull, and combined with those horns, I love it.  She even throws out some real raps in the midst of the singing on here - I don't know what I expected to hear on this, but its just so raw and real and non-pop feeling, that I've kept listening to it long after I should have moved on to something else.

That little sproing sound, right out of some Looney Tunes thing.  And on top of the song, and the lyrics, that video is fabulous as well.  And the line about taking his ass to Red Lobster, *chef's kiss*  The Kendrick collab of "Freedom" is also solid - her killer voice on the verses, and then Kendrick's conscious rap in the cut?  I know it probably is the right thing for her to be married to Jay-Z, but wouldn't it be cool if she married Kendrick or someone who still makes vital music?  Instead of boring cash-the-check music like Jay makes these days?  That Carters album would have been greatness instead of mediocrity.  I like this.