Bandcamp Crate Digging: Modern New Wave

Last year I stumbled onto the band Nation of Language (mentioned in my recent Unburied Treasures post). Their sound got me digging deeper into a realm of bands that I see as today’s “Second Wave of New Wave.”

If you search for any description of “New Wave” music what you’ll most likely find will focus more on a historical period of music rather than a genre. You’ll hear the story of bands in New York and the UK breaking away from the punk rock scene, evolving a new sound and eventually a new ethos that replaced the aggression and ideals-first mentality of punk to instead prioritize musicality, production value, and more accessible music.

What I find interesting about this common use of “New Wave” is that while there is typically a reference to synthesizers in the sound, the term is used to cover such a large time span and such a huge range of acts (from Blondie to Duran Duran to Talking Heads to Tears for Fears) that it leaves the term fairly useless as a descriptor of what the music really sounds like.

Today though, at least in the corners of the internet where music nerds pay attention to this stuff, I see the label “New Wave” getting new legs as a genre name and one that’s seen a recent boom given older Gen Zer’s falling for the music of their parents’ youth. Like most labels in today’s music, this “Second Wave of New Wave” is somewhat subjective, either overlapping or containing things like “synth-pop” and “coldwave” depending on your viewpoint. But at it’s foundation, beyond the synthesizer heavy sound and mid-tempo, dance-able rhythm patterns, is that bittersweet or even melancholy vibe that goes all the way back to the roots of 80’s era “New Wave” and bands like Joy Division, New Order, or The Cure. And in my opinion, this is where the magic lies: in the juxtaposition of the downhearted dance tune.

So with that intro, here are some favorite Modern New Wave finds from my recent Bandcamp crate digging.

Crate Digging for Treasures

People frequently ask me how I find new music. There are a whole range of ways, but one of the most fascinating to me lately is Bandcamp. It is a seemingly infinite source of music which is often obscure or niche, can easily range into bizarre, but contains wonderful treasures. As I’ve been spending more time exploring Bandcamp I thought I would try to share some of my favorite finds, things that are older releases so they wouldn’t be contenders for my best-of-the-year list but I still consider them worthy of getting more attention. Combing through the music site has come to remind me a bit of browsing through the bins at music stores (back in the old days when those existed) so I’ve decided I’ll refer to these posts as my Bandcamp Crate Digging series. Stay tuned…

Best Music of 2022 – Songs

To wrap up this 2022 review, here are my favorite songs of the year – at least those not already highlighted from my top albums. I’m often not fully aware of what makes a song “click” for me when I first hear it and wouldn’t be sure how to articulate its secrets at the time – I just know it when I hear it. It’s only when I sit down now, having grown familiar and comfortable with these songs, that I can start to look at them with more context and hope to understand some of the craft that lies within the art.   

Once again, I hope these posts help you discover some of your own new favorite music.

FAVORITE SONGS OF 2022

1. “Bleed Out,” The Mountain Goats
Grisly, dark humor that goes too far? Or jaunty, wry-smile inducing anthem of persistence through the shit-storm of life that rages all about? I say the latter. “And I will never lose hope, and I haven’t lost hope / I’m just realistic / I will go down punching, but I will go down / And my corner man won’t bring me back around.”

2. “Alive Ain’t Always Living,” Quelle Chris
Slow groove, gospel tinged hip-hop track that preaches what’s really important in life – in the coolest, most low-key way possible.  “Lord, I know what I done wrong, tryna be what I done right / Veinticuatro, siete dias, me, oh my / You can keep the feast and wine, I just want my peace of mind.”

[In hindsight, listening to these first two tracks along with “100% Endurance,” from my favorite album of the year highlighted earlier, I can’t help see the thread of a thematic trend… But I’ll leave that for others to comment on or just roll their eyes and move on.] 

3. “Gary Borthwick Says,” Neutrals
A great example of post-punk dry wit, but what I particularly love about this track is how our understanding of the character depicted in the song flips with a few subtle lines in the final bridge making us realize we underestimated and minimized the character – and we also underestimated and minimized the song itself. 

4. “A Warning,” Elizabeth Compton
This was a late-in-the-year discovery during a night of Bandcamp mining. Entirely unaware of what was coming as I took the first listen, this is a song that swallowed me whole on the first take. Like some kind of melancholy version of Portishead, the dance beats removed and the analog synths turned up to max. The chopped pattern of static and the fluctuating, mechanical rhythm of those synths create a ghost-inside-the-machine feel for Compton’s haunting voice. 

5. “All My Love Is Coming Back To Me,” S.G. Goodman
At times I hear traces of the legendary Bonnie Raitt, but S.G. Goodman is clearly on her own path and this song has all the components of a great rock song – one with the kind of driving rhythm that if played at high volume while in your car will inevitably result in speeding tickets. 

6. “Dark Before the Dawn,” Benjamin Todd
Benjamin Todd has a powerful voice that’s only matched by the power of his earnestness. Combined together they take the lament of this simple cowboy song and bring it to life. 

7. “Wood Dove,” Nick Cave, Warren Ellis
I like birds. I guess that’s why my interest was sparked when I heard about this massive work of over 200 songs and poems put out this year called For the Birds: The Birdsong Project. A collection of pieces from a wide range of artists/writers, all taking some kind of inspiration from birds. Out of that work, the ethereal soundscape of this track, combined with Nick Cave’s haunting voice, captured me instantly. 

8. “Blue is the Eye,” Ye Vagabonds
Love song. Lullaby. Funeral dirge. Each time I listen to this song I feel I can take a different meaning from this new-wave Iris folk song. Remember the Thistle and Shamrock radio show? I guess it’s still going but to be honest, I was never a huge fan. Too much of the traditional Celtic music was… well, over the top in its Celtic-ness. But here, the traditional components are subtle and soulful – the end result a gorgeous piece of music. 

9. “Angel Band – Jubilee Version,” Tyler Childers
Much like Sturgil Simpson, Tyler Childers has a brilliant touch for combining old-school, traditional American music – folk, country, and in this case even some gospel – with a modern, progressive mindset. Here he makes getting to church sound so inviting you can’t help but think fondly of those hard, wooden pews. 

10. “Excuse-moi de t’aimer,” Elizabeth Moen
Elizabeth Moen released a great album this year which almost made my list, but it was her single “Sorry That I Love You” with this French translation B-side that I couldn’t put down. Both tracks showcase her luxurious vocal range and power with exceptional production touches including guitar backing by Liam Kazar. (Yep, third time he’s been mentioned in these end-of-year posts – there’s definitely something special going on in the Chicago music scene these days.)   

11. “Munch (Feelin’ U),” Ice Spice
I don’t think anyone is going to argue the value of this track based on the lyrics (What about his lunch?) but I am not too proud to admit I jumped on the bandwagon for this viral hip-hop track. A simple but insanely catchy bass groove topped off with a buttery smooth, too-cool-for-you rap delivery. 

12. “Runner,” Alex G
Alex G has put out a couple of highly acclaimed albums over the years (including this year’s God Save The Animals) but I’ve never felt there was sufficient consistency or focus in them to make my favorite albums list. But on a track like this one the songwriting crystallizes into a rock-pop standout. Is this a song about someone’s devotion to their dog? Probably not…  

13. “The Smoke,” The Smile
Some might be surprised about this pick given my lackluster feelings about Radiohead. But I think this song by the Thom York, Jonny Greenwood side project has what is frequently missing from Radiohead’s music – authenticity and soul. How do they create it here? Maybe it comes from touches like a tangible melody and the slight swing of a back-beat groove – but it’s probably just that wicked bass guitar lick! 

14. “Jackie Down the Line,” Fontaines D.C.
A cold warning about a brutal character. The track’s punch is delivered in full force thanks to the way frontman Grain Chatten’s weary voice is paired with a slashing guitar, a shuffling drum pattern, and the rolling bass line coursing through it all.

15. “Black Umbrella,” Anna Tivel
From a local Portland singer-songwriter this is a poignant, vivid and heartbreaking story inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and a tragic event that is all too easy to recognize.

2022 – Live and in Concert

I had a pretty good year seeing live shows, even without the benefit of being compared to past dire, pandemic times. I saw three of my all-time favorite bands in one 6 day period – Pavement, Spoon, and Wilco. I discovered new favorite performers like Yard Act and Liam Kazar by seeing them perform live first. I saw indie-rock stalwarts Wolf Parade and The New Pornographers. I saw standard bearers of the alt-country/Americana scene Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, Sean Rowe, Benjamin Todd and the Lost Dog Street Band. I was able to share the amazing live concert experiences of The Roots, Low Cut Connie, and Moon Hooch with great friends. And I even saw a true icon of the punk ethos, Henry Rollins (on a spoken word tour – powerful and hilarious as always). But there were two performers (three concerts in total) that were my highlights of the year, for very different reasons – creating emotional bookends for my 2022 experience.

AroojAftab
Arooj Aftab (The Old Church, Aladdin Theater)
After putting out my favorite album of 2021, I was excited to see Arooj Aftab was coming to Portland early in 2022. It got better when she came back a second time in the fall. The first show was exceptional. The second show was spellbinding. Aftab was accompanied by amazing musicians during each show who were a joy to see on their own – particularly the harpist Maeve Gilchrist, who proves that a harp can be as intense and captivating as any guitar. But just like in her recordings, it is Aftab’s voice that overwhelms you. I’ve had a handful of great live music experiences that gave me literal goosebumps. Arooj Aftab was the first musician I remember bringing literal tears to my eyes.
GogolBordello
Gogol Bordello (Revolution Hall)
This band’s live performances have a reputation and I’ve tried for several years to see them. While they tour a lot, they don’t come to the PNW very often and I’ve never been able to catch them until this December. I was not disappointed. Part punk show (replete with the largest mosh pit I’ve seen in decades), part social protest, part folk music jamboree, all combined into a party that always feels on the edge of chaos. I don’t remember seeing a performance with more energy and non-stop intensity, propelled by every member of the band and amplified by a positively ecstatic crowd. The encore of the show reached its crazed peak when Ukrainian front man, Eugene Hutz, is carried over the crowd on top of a drum while hoisting the flag of his home country in protest to the ongoing war.

Unburied Treasures – 2021

Building from (or stealing) a concept from the guys at Sound Opinions, this is the first installment in a (maybe recurring) new part of my end-of-year review where I touch on an album or two I missed before. These are albums I didn’t discover (or give sufficient time to) until after I’d posted my previous year end lists but I’ve since fallen in love with. Rather than retroactively updating my old “Top 10” lists (cause where would that end?) I thought I’d take a minute to unbury some of these treasures and give them their due.

I hadn’t heard of Liam Kazar until he opened for The New Pornographers at their show this fall. There was a smooth charm and charism to both his performance and songwriting that immediately won over the crowd. His debut album, released in 2021, has a significantly more produced sound than his live set and adds a stronger 70’s smooth-rock vibe. Kazar’s lyrics cover the usual love and loss but with sprinkles of self-deprecation and humor, combined with the bright, buoyant grooves of the backing band. There are aspects of yacht rock, but more importantly, the distinct influences of producer Jeff Tweedy. I’m pretty sure a younger me would not have given this album a chance but the “almost 50” me has been playing this one on repeat.
While Liam Kazar’s album was channeling late 70’s rock, the Nation of Language are full-on embracing 80’s new wave. This is synth-pop of a very specific palette. I’ve seen some critics refer to it as “comfort food,” in the tone a snooty, health food purist might use. I too can understand that wariness about overly derivative records that seem geared to capitalize on nostalgic trigger points. All that said, what I hear from this NYC trio is that they’ve taken a sincere love of 80’s synth-pop, put together quality songwriting, added their own melodic groove, and won me over in the process.

Best Music of 2022 – Albums

Like so many other things I’ve tried to do recently, it’s taken me longer than I hoped to get my year-end list put together. But it has been nice to take a step back and review all the new music that’s fallen into my life in 2022. While I haven’t been doing a formal gratitude journal for a while, I guess this practice of doing my annual list of favorite music could be looked at as an exercise in music gratitude. And during a year as long and challenging as 2022, I am certainly grateful for the gift of good music.

With that, let me get things started with my picks for favorite album. I’ll follow up with my list of favorite songs in a few days.

 

MY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2022

I first discovered this group when I saw they were playing at a favorite local venue back in April. There was a brief write-up about this debut album which sparked my interest. One listen later and I was all in. (And their live performance was equally great.) The album stayed on the top of my playlist all year long. I’ve written before about this growing group of post-punk, “progressive-male” bands from the UK area (and this won’t be the only example in my 2022 lists) so some may think I’m treading tired ground. In my ears though, Yard Act brings their own style to the sub-genre. Despite the dry wit and sarcasm that drips heavily from most of the lyrics the songs feel almost uplifting and jaunty given the danceable beats and forward vocal production. In between the requisite post-punk cynicism there are moments of sincerity and humor that I find undeniably charming. This culminates with the final track of the album, “100% Endurance” – my hands-down most listened to song for the year, personal anthem for 2022, and what could be the best end to an album-closing track that I remember hearing.
 

“It’s all so pointless, ah, but it’s not though is it? / It’s really real and when you feel it, you can really feel it.

Grab somebody that you love / Grab anyone who needs to hear it / And shake ’em by the shoulders, scream in their face / Death is coming for us all, but not today / Today you’re living it, hey, you’re really feeling it.

Give it everything you’ve got knowing that you can’t take it with you / And all you ever needed to exist has always been within you / Gimme some of that good stuff that human spirit / Cut it with a hundred percent endurance.

It’s all so pointless, sure is / And when you’re gone / It makes me stronger knowing / That this will all just carry on / With someone else (someone else) / (Something new) something new / It’s not like there’s gonna be nothing, is it?”

 
Yanya hit my radar in 2019 with her debut album Miss Universe and gave fair warning that she had music writing chops. In PAINLESS, she returns with beautiful melodies you’ll happily slide into and the consistency needed to lure you along through every track. This is an album that pulls off the deceptively difficult balancing act of rich, detailed sound texture without sounding over produced. Arguably her most unique weapon is that voice – a voice that has always managed to be tender and sultry at the same time. Here she pushes the impact of that voice with intimate lyrics that speak of heartbreak and rejection in raw tones.
 
Raw production, ramshackle drums, clumsy banjos, the entire band shouting out a verse, and twang to spare. Frenetic, jangly, acoustic county-punk that hits all my trigger points with unflinching tenderness running through it all. The lyrics often stumble out at break-neck speed as if the thoughts and emotions from singer-songwriter Lomes Oleander are too strong to hold back. Is that what happens when you’re filled with the intensity of youthful idealism? Well a little dose of that could be a good thing for those of us more generally infected with middle-aged cynicism. 
 
There are times in this album where the production and Tomberline’s delivery feel sweet in a way that probably contributed to my initial mixed reactions. However, with each subsequent listen I found deeper layers and picked up on the sprinkles of dissonance that keep things rooted. Subdued but still lush in its production, listened to as a whole the songs blend together creating an inviting space with what I now hear more as levity than sweetness. (“I know I’m not Jesus, but Jesus I’m trying to be.”) I don’t know Tomberine’s background but I come away hearing an album from someone who’s grown comfortable enough with loss, regret, and imperfection to simply focus on creating beautiful music through it all.  
 
There is a clear lineage from Gram Parsons and The Flying Burrito Brothers to the sound of this album, but filtered through the raw, bedroom recording antics of a band like Car Seat Headrest. The darker impact of the album though is in the lyrics – often depicting tangled images of unwashed Americana. And like our country right now, the lyrics range from farcical to ugly but with moments of simple honesty that shine through.
 
I’m going to argue that this is probably the most overlooked album (by music critics) in 2022. And I’m going to make a really bold statement and say that Britt Daniel and the boys in Spoon have proven themselves to be on par with the great Tom Petty – on par in being one of America’s most prolific and proficient creators of inherently catchy rock songs. (This claim was made independent of any Spoon/Petty connections.) Now I can understand why this album was easily overlooked. It’s not drastically different from their past work. It’s largely just straight-forward rockers. (No one cool listens to rock music any more.) And maybe most condemning of all, this album is not Spoon’s best. I’d say it ranks maybe third or fourth in their catalog. But the fact that Spoon’s third or fourth best album could still have this many simply great rock tunes is truly impressive. And albums should not be overlooked because an artist has been consistently great.
 
In the last two years the phrase “pandemic album” has been used a lot in the music world and it’s something I’ve grown a bit tired of, but with her track record of past work I knew Van Etten’s latest release was something I couldn’t just dismiss. In each of her past albums Van Etten has progressed from the sparse, singer-songwriter sound to a larger palette of instrumentation and dynamic range. “We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong” takes a slight bend in that trajectory by shifting from the feel of a Van Etten led rock band to Van Etten’s take on a swooning, epic rock opera. Yes, I too generally recoil from the phrase “rock opera” but the key part to focus on is “Van Etten’s take on…” And while there’s a moody, potentially even bleak vein that runs over these songs, if you look deeper into what she’s created you find a current of resolve that brings light even in the darkness. (Not to mention, a hilarious, self-deprecating reference to the infamous moves of Elaine Benes.)
 
When I saw an album drop that was a collaboration between Danger Mouse and Black Thought (best known for his role in The Roots) it seemed a pretty safe bet for a placing on this end of year list. These two have hip-hop credentials a mile long. Then I started reading that it was a project they’d been working on sporadically for a decade. Did that mean they were patiently selecting just the right material and perfecting every groove, or did that mean they were just picking up scrap tracks and struggling to find the right chemistry, eventually releasing something under the pressure of outside expectations? The good news is that it’s very close to the former – not perfect in every single groove, but more consistent than you’ll find in just about any other hip-hop production. There’s great collaboration with guest voices (shout out to Run the Jewels!) and the sound is classic without coming across as dated, accessible without being plain.
 
In case of emergency (which seems more and more likely all the time) break open this album for an immediate dose of positive vibes and an instant booty-shakin’ dance party. Sometime in the 2000’s my life grew markedly brighter when I discovered the world of Afrobeats music. Like the children discovering the magic Narnian wardrobe, I was dropped into an amazing world – this one filled with music from all across Africa, going back to the 60’s, that pulses with a vitality and resilience we could all use in spades. Spreading out from the overarching umbrella of the Afrobeats sound, there can be a bewildering range of separate genres, sounds and artists. While K.O.G (a.k.a. Kweku of Ghana) is generally cataloged under the branch of Afro-Fusion, what I hear in this album is someone who’s brilliantly carried the tradition of Afrobeats forward, dials up the jazz, drops in the George Clinton-esque funk, adds a streak of reggae, and tops it all off with a layer of hip-hop. All done to create what K.O.G describes as a “weapon in the battlefield for peace of mind in the world.” 
 
This is the album I struggled with the most when putting together my list. Is it really a favorite and an album I love? I’m honestly still not sure. But it is an album I found fascinating and kept coming back to. The cover art shows several people climbing through what looks to be the ruins of some building. I don’t know if it was intentional, but in a way this seems like an apt metaphor for how this album sounds at times – like a group of musicians are playing with the crumbled pieces of a collapsed folk song. I’ve seen their sound classified as post-rock but I think of it more like post-americana (which is ironic since this is a UK band). There are tracks where I feel I might be listening to a piece of classical impressionism. It is sparse. It can be jarring as it clatters along in broken rhythms. It is also enthralling and I find myself enchanted by the eerie spaces that it creates.
 
Bonny Light Horseman is a side project for three very experienced musicians – Anais Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats), and Josh Kaufman (The Hold Steady, The National, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter) – who’s other work ranges from indie-rock to folk-rock to singer-songwriter. Together they’ve landed pretty squarely in contemporary folk and being a fan particularly of Johnson and Kaufman’s other bands this was a project that got my attention. In 2020 they put out an album that most thought would be a one-time project and that I felt had wonderful moments but didn’t quite fully click. Now they’ve come back and delivered a charming album which fully clicked for me. I’m always turned off by overly polished, too-perfect music which generally turns saccharine and this seems to be a common danger with a lot of contemporary folk. Here in Rolling Golden Holy, Mitchell and Johnson’s vocals intermingle beautifully adding to a sweetness in the songwriting that could have gone too far. But I think Kaufman’s touch in the arrangements and production might be what keeps the final result feeling warm and balanced.

HONORABLE MENTION

White Trash Revelry, Adeem the Artist
El Bueno Y El Malo, Hermanos Gutierrez
Wet Leg, Wet Leg
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, Big Thief
In These Times, Makaya McCraven
 
 

Best Music of 2021 – Songs

And here are my top 10 favorite songs of the year. There’s maybe not quite as much variety here as I’ve had in some years, but it still ranges from jazz, to country-western, to various forms of indie-pop. And for those who want to go further, I’ll leave a link to a much larger playlist of great music I found in 2021 at the bottom of this post.

As always, I hope this exercise helps you discover some new music that you’ll love.

MY FAVORITE SONGS OF 2021

1. “Reality Winner,” Andrew Bryant – This is a fairly personal pick, probably not something you’ll find on many other year-end reviews. But it’s top of my list because it’s a solid rock song with lyrics that felt written directly for me; “With everything I’ve been through, with everything I’ve done / I don’t play games and I don’t care who won.”
 
2. “Wet Dream” and “Chaise Lounge,” Wet Leg – This is a twofer bonus because I listened to these tracks back-to-back so many times through the year. Taking the ironic, too-cool-for-school attitude to it’s pop extreme this is wickedly infectious fun.
 
3. “Sanctuary,” Hiss Golden Messenger – I’m not sure that MC Taylor’s new album was his best work but he’s always made music that feels comforting, soaked in goodwill. That feeling could be in short supply lately and this track stuck with me – well timed and well appreciated. “You wanna move, You want sanctuary, That’s all that I can offer to you, From the bottom to the bone.”
 
4. “Both of My Hands,” Riddy Arman – Last year I highlighted a song from Arman that’s also my favorite on this album but this track ended up being a close second. It’s haunting. Vividly painting, through production and lyrics, the image of someone hiding from regrets in a drafty farm house on some lonely, high desert ranch land.
 
5. “Murder at the Bingo Hall,” Amigo the Devil – A gothic, folk-rock song dripping in dark humor – and it’s about bingo! How could I not love this song? In fact, I became somewhat obsessed with it this summer and was unable to get it out of head. Loudly singing it on repeat throughout a multi-day bikepacking trip, it never failed to make me smile.
 
6. “Figure No. 2,” Darius Jones – This is a song you need to prepare for. Listen with headphones or a good sound system to capture the enormous dynamic range. Sit down and prepare to dedicate nearly ten minutes. Actually longer, because you’ll need more than one listen – it is not a simple song. Which is what’s engaging and beguiling to me in many ways because it first comes across as so simple, potentially monotonous. It is not. It is a roller-coaster of emotion, full of complexity and nuance that will be missed by those who don’t pay attention. 
 
7. “Take Off Ur Pants,” Indigo De Souza – A bouncy, garage pop song (or maybe “bubblegrunge,” which I just learned is a genre of some kind) with a catchy bass line and smart, sweet (almost coy) vocals that build to a shouting rejection of everyone’s annoying expectations. “Now that everyone’s gone, I can tell you the truth / I don’t love you, I like you.”
 
8. “Gold Chains,” Genesis Owusu – Owusu-Ansah is quoted as saying “I’m Prince, if he were a rapper in 2020’s Australia.” While that’s a pretty cocky thing to say, I can see something behind his brag when I listen to this track. There’s a smooth, Prince-like funk which sits as the perfect foundation for Owusu-Ansah’s flowing rap style. (And yes, Barack Obama also had this song on his 2021 list but I had it selected first.)
 
9. “I Know I’m Funny haha,” Faye Webster – Moody indie folk. Using almost seductive vocals hidden behind a tentative-sounding delivery, Webster builds additional layers of meaning on top of lyrics about complexity hidden in the simple moments of a relationship.
 
10. “In the Stone,” The Goon Sax – A swaggering groove contrasted against dry, dour vocals. “Do you think it’s better not feeling any of this at all?” And yes, I’m a sucker for hand claps and a great 90’s era bass riff.
 
 

Best Music of 2021 – Albums

I typically have a long list of potential favorite albums that I curate throughout the year and the largest challenge becomes figuring out which one will be first and how to narrow it down to just ten once year-end rolls around. In fact for 2020 I had so many favorites I gave up and made it a top twelve list.
 
I’m not sure why, but 2021 didn’t excite me with new music in the same way. There were good albums – I certainly recommend everything in my list – but I wasn’t finding a lot of stuff that kept my focus. Instead I spent much of this year going back in musical time, exploring corners of 70’s music, digging through my old iTunes catalog, or re-appreciating favorite albums from college.
 
But a year-end music list is tradition (or at least I’ve made it into one for myself) so as December hit I started reviewing my playlists. Quickly enough, the gems from the last 12 months began to surface and a growing appreciation for new sounds that have become part of my expanding music library.
 
Now that I’ve undersold the hell out of this year’s list, let’s start with my picks for best albums.
 

MY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2021

1. Vulture Prince, Arooj Aftab – By far the most beautiful and soothing album of the year for me. The arrangements are subdued and the production is low-key, making for a subtle album that I almost overlooked after my first listen in the middle of some busy day. But take a moment to sit down, breath deep, and Aftab’s voice will carry you over and through the spaces of these seven tracks, delivering you into a magical land.
 
2. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, Little Simz – To get this out of the way, I’ll say that I could do without the interludes on this album. They’re not as disruptive as some hip-hop albums but I rarely see how they bring listing value. That out of the way though, this is unquestionably a great album by an artist who’s already put out strong work and is really hitting her stride here. What stands out in Little Simz’s latest is her confidence to be nuanced and even vulnerable at times, knowing that her strength and power will ultimately show. She pulls off more orchestral instrumentation without it getting overproduced and keeps the cool soul and R&B vibe going. The lyrical theme of war/struggle between her introvert and extrovert sides plays out across the album and in shifts in tone and instrumentation. But all of that set aside, it’s just a great balance of hip-hop grooves and bangers.
 
3. Home Video, Lucy Dacus – I’ve been a big fan of Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers and was excited when they came together for what I would consider a true “super group” with last year’s boy genius project. As much as I love all their music, I think with this album Dacus provides a strong argument for being the best and most consistent song writer of the three. With Home Video she expertly captures the awkward, tender and bittersweet emotions of young adulthood in a way that resonates strongly for anyone looking back at years long past.
 
4. Far In, Helado Negro – Sometimes timing is everything. While this year often left me feeling trapped inside a never ending COVID nightmare, Far In gave me an escape into a dreamy, ethereal dance party. It was an escape I came back to over and over. Sometimes focusing on the intricate rhythms and layered sounds. Other times using it as an ambient blanket. And now that I sit here on a cold, wet December evening I take extra pleasure in the warmth evoked by Roberto Carlos Lenge’s mix of Latin American influences.  
 
5. CRAWLER, IDLES – Recently there’s been a collection of “progressive-male,” heavy post-punk UK(ish) based bands putting out music which I admit has the potential to blur together (IDLES, Fontaines D.C., shame, Viagra Boys). And IDLES alone has put out a flood of music with three studio albums in four years. But I feel this year’s CRAWLER could be the best album any of them have put out so far. They’ve taken the frantic intensity of their earlier work and turned it down slightly (from 11 to 10), making room to throw in a touch of dance floor rhythms and a bit of fun. But the lyrics in this album, often overlooked in the ferocity of Joe Talbot’s vocals, also contain an intelligent self-reflection that means there’s thought behind the sonic punch.
 
6. Long Time Coming, Sierra Ferrell – The challenge with many modern artists putting out music leaning heavily towards traditional sounds is that they can often end up monotonous, stale, and flat. Ferrell has avoided that trap by deftly moving through a wide range of influences – country-western, swing, bluegrass, even Flamenco – while tying it all together cohesively with her alluring southern drawl. 
 
7. All Bets Are Off, Tamar Aphek – This album is all about the percussion and guitars – the rhythmic soundscape of the drums and the textures created with the guitars. Aphek’s somewhat dry, sultry voice is layered on top, but it’s just another layer – almost percussive itself – and not the focus. I can’t help but think of this album as more jazz than rock (and I generally hate jazz-rock fusion). As bits of avant-garde jazz, post-punk, and even psychedelia mixed together it may not be the easiest album to consume for many listeners but I found it a fascinating piece I kept going back to.
 
8. There Is No End, Tony Allen – There are plenty of talented hip-hop producers creating snippets of great beats but so often they fail to create flow – to build a continuous groove. But sublime flow comes naturally to the extraordinary drumming talent of Tony Allen. Through the 70’s he was the hidden force behind the ground breaking music of Fela Kuti but someone I (like many others) did not know by name, only by his work. Here he collaborates with a series of hip-hop artists and casual listeners might find him still hidden but his drumming is the key to this album – the heartbeat that gives it life. 
 
9. Always Something, UV-TV – My first impression was something like a 90’s era pop-punk band fronted by a young Liz Phair, but there’s nothing dated or derivative here. With nine tightly constructed and efficient tracks that play out in sub 30 minutes, this is a great example of a band understanding their sound and not trying to do too much. 
 
10. The Color Blu(e), Blu – There may be some critics out there who could call this album gimmicky with its heavy play on the “Blu(e)” theme but I felt it was executed with such wit and creativity that it worked to hook me in. It reminds me of some of the best Roots albums with the old-school beats and deft use of throwback sampling. 
 

HONORABLE MENTION

Collapsed in Sunbeams, Arlo Park
Comfort To Me, Amyl and The Sniffers
Drunk Tank Pink, shame
 

Best Music of 2020 – Songs

It’s time for part two of my end-of-year music review – my favorite songs. Nothing too complex here. It can be hard to rank songs from one to ten because of how much mood and context affect our reception of an individual piece of music. But each year there is generally one song that stands out for me above all the rest, a particular song that for various different reasons fit my mood and context that year.

This year certainly had a unique mood and context – and wonderfully there was a wealth of great music that spoke very clearly to this time. Setting aside RTJ4, an album I’ve already highlighted and full of songs that carried me through this year at speaker-distorting volumes, there were three songs that spoke to me in startling clarity. Three tracks that hit home for me because they represented thoughts, imagery, and questions specific and extremely relatable to me, but at the same time they were very aware of the much greater world outside my sheltered bubble.

So, for my song list in 2020 I had three songs that could have easily been my #1 favorite song of the year and then threw in seventeen more to get to a nice round Top 20 overall. Enjoy, and as always, I hope that each of you is able to find something in these lists that speaks to you and maybe brings you out of your bubble.

Cheers.

MY FAVORITE SONGS OF 2020

1. “What’ve I Done to Help,” Jason Isbell – With the brutally frank refrain of this song it became a defining song for my 2020. No surprise that Isbell was able to put voice to a question so many of us (myself certainly included) should be asking ourselves. 
 
2. “Long Violent History,” Tyler Childers – This was a surprise track tagged onto the end of what seemed to be a traditional bluegrass album. Rather than chastise or dismiss those in this country who fail to see a broader reality, Childers uses his voice to try and give new perspective and open minds to empathy.  (Hear Childers explain in his own words.)
 
3. “Thoughts and Prayers,” Drive-By Truckers – Patterson Hood moved to Portland a few years ago. We are honored to have such an amazing song writer in our community and while this track was written with the fight for gun control in mind, I felt it equally captured the frustration I know I felt watching protests and chaos throughout the year. 
 
4. “Spirits, Angels, or Lies,” Riddy Arman – My favorite surprise find of the year. I’m sure I was slightly biased by Arman’s personal preface to the song in this video but this touching ode to her father, the Man in Black, and the power of music rarely failed to draw a tear. 
 
5. “Fire,” Waxahatchee – While Katie Crutchfield’s unconventional vocals may seem to strain at times, I feel it fits the fight inside this song. Mixed in with a deceptively effective beat this song kept bringing me back.
 
6. “Boomer,” Bartees Strange – Like the rest of the album he released this year, this track is hard to categorize by genre or style but it’s filled with undeniable drive and throws hooks left and right. “Most people gonna say what they wanna say.” 
 
7. “Grounds,” IDLES – These Brit-punks are back once again, calling us out on our shit with fierce candor.
 
8. “Behold, The Deceiver,” Shabaka and the Ancestors – Starting with a gentle interplay of saxophones, this track transforms as an insistent base line drops and begins propelling you along on a captivating ride.
  
9. “Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me,” Logan Ledger – Just listen to the first 30 second of this country ballad and Ledger’s buttery smooth voice will carry you away to the watery waves of some beautiful, melancholy dream world.
 
10. “A Hero’s Death,” Fontaines D.C. – Have these boys from Ireland become motivational speakers? How much is tongue-in-cheek and how much is there attempt to help us all fight our way up? “When you speak, speak sincere / And believe my friend, everyone will hear / Life ain’t always empty…”
 
11. “Get the Devil Out,” Nadia Reid – I’ve been in love with Reid’s voice for a while. Her new album dropped into my lap the week the first shutdowns began and I found myself instinctively drawing comfort in the soulful grace of this song. 
 
12. “Scram!” Jeff Rosenstock – “I’ve been told for most my life / “Wait until the perfect time” / By people who have been defined / by skipping spots in line.” Fuck yeah, Jeff!
 
13. “Local Radio,” Bad Moves – This is just catchy-as-hell power pop. 
 
14. “2 Far Gone,” Moses Boyd – A cascading piano carries us into a deftly layered beat. We’re blissfully swept along. It’s not until we’re over 90 seconds in that we begin to wonder. Where are we? Is this a jazz song? Is this an Afrobeat dance party? Is this some kind of funky electronic drone re-mix? Yes! 
 
15. “zombie girl,” Adrianna Lenker – With a fragile voice, this minimalist recording captures a “sweet and blue” feeling perfectly.
 
16. “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” Sabine McCalla – I’m not sure how much the writing of this song was inspired by the traditional blues standard of the same name, but I think any of the greats would be impressed by this achingly soulful country-blues track. Captivating and timeless.
 
17. “Roger Ebert,” Clem Snide – A heart-swelling track inspired by a beautifully lived life. The keys to life are found at the gates of death.   
 
19. “Cowpoke,” Colter Wall – I’m unclear if this song resonated with me because of nostalgia, escapism, or simply the gift of Colter Wall’s voice but it carried me off into the best possible cowboy music. 
 
18. “And It’s Still Alright,” Nathaniel Rateliff – “Your idle hands are all that stands / From your time in the dark / But it’s still alright.” A blessing for the lost, the weary, and the sinners. 
 
20. “Texas Sun,” Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – An example of how magic can sometimes be found in the most unexpected pairings. Leon Bridges steps away from his neo-soul work, combining his velvety voice with the psych-rock groove machine of Khruangbin. 
 
 

Best Music of 2020 – Albums

Let me start by acknowledging that this is my first post to the blog in 12 months. While I’d like to blame that entirely on COVID (it seems like an easy escape clause) the truth is more likely a mix of pandemic induced apathy and a previously existing slip in blogging related motivation. But here we are in December and it seems like I should at least get off my hands long enough to bang out my music picks for the year. With any luck, this will trigger at least a little momentum and I’ll see if I can do something to capture a few points of interest from the year that has been 2020. 
 
Now on to the music – 
 
Although this year has been far from standard, my process for putting together these lists is the same as what I’ve been doing and pretty straight forward. I did provide some additional picks this time just because I got worn out trying to keep the list capped at ten and thought a few more wouldn’t hurt anything. 
 
One potential trend in terms of the content of my lists this year is a higher proportion of Alt-country/Americana music compared to the last few. I’m not sure if this is simply because there was a resurgence in those genres or if it actually had more to do with me finding refuge and comfort in music tinged with the sounds of my childhood.  
 
With that out of the way, here are my personal picks for best albums of 2020. Favorite songs will be coming shortly.
 

MY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2020

1. RTJ4, Run the Jewels – Yes, these gentlemen have been high on my list several times before, but damnit they just keep dropping standout music that can’t be overlooked. And on top of making the best produced (thanks to El-P) rap albums that surgically pivot between powerful social commentary and humor, they once again demonstrated their uncanny ability to drop these gifts just when the world needs it most. In the last week of 2016 they released their RTJ3 as the reality of Trump’s win was sinking in on all of us. Now in 2020, 9 days after George Floyd is killed and protests are growing widespread, they surprise us with an album putting voice to anger, frustration and a demand for change.
 
2. SOURCE, Nubya Garcia – I can safely say that Nubya Garcia has been the most fruitful personal music discovery I’ve had in a long time. Added up, I spent more time this year in her musical neighborhood than anywhere else. Not only did I binge on her amazing album of afro-beat infused jazz but exploring her catalog of music opened up a wonderful universe of collaborators and adjacent artists filling a new world of UK jazz that I didn’t know before. (See also Shabaka and the Ancestors, Moses Boyd, both featured later on in my year end review.) All of it jazz that’s been richly mixed with African, Caribbean, hip-hop and electronic influences.
 
3. Neon Cross, Jaime Wyatt – While Sturgill Simpson may be considered by many as the face of Outlaw Country’s current wave, I’d argue Jaime Wyatt is about as “Outlaw” or Alt-Country as you can get. I heard her say once in an interview that she takes country music and ruins it. Don’t be fooled though, there’s nothing ruined in this album. I was hooked as soon as I heard the opening track, with her smokey voice and the underlying pedal steel guitar. Those who aren’t paying attention may take her for a cynical country misfit but there’s a battle-scarred honesty in her writing that’s not commonly found. 
 
4. Every Bad, Porridge Radio – Dana Margolin’s dusky voice plays perfectly across eleven heaving tracks of emotional release. With an underlayer of DIY post-punk sounds, a splash of Britpop attitude, and just the right amount of avant-garde thinking, this became my favorite “indie-rock” album of the year. In the final track, Margolin may chant “There’s nothing inside / There’s nothing inside,” but this release is full of brash conviction. 
 
5. Cha Cha Palace, Angelica Garcia – I first heard of Garcia when her early single for this album made Barak Obama’s list of favorite songs in 2019. (Yes, another reminder of how amazing things used to be when we had an openminded, cultured, and tasteful president.) However, despite infectious pop tunes like “Karma The Knife,” I didn’t immediately connect with her album as a whole. Maybe because I’m a privileged, middle aged, sorta-hipster white guy and Cha Cha Palace is a syncopated look into what it’s like in America as someone with Latinx roots from East LA. But that’s what’s so impressive about this album – once I took a moment to listen again, I realized (as I like to think Barak did) that Garcia was capturing a side of the diverse reality in America that all of us should (need) to access. “I been trying to tell ya but you just don’t see / Like you, I was born in this country.” Best of all though, she does it with buoyant charm.
 
6. Cuttin’ Grass – Vol. 1, Sturgill Simpson – Yes, I’m a Sturgill fanboy. Yes, this is actually two albums which contain no new tracks but is instead a collection of songs he’s previously released now reworked in a bluegrass setting. And quite frankly, I’m generally ambivalent about bluegrass music. But similar to Jeff Tweedy’s 2017 album Together at Last, having the courage to re-imagine your own songs in an entirely new format highlights the quality of the material and demonstrates the layers of pleasure we can get from truly great music. (BONUS: When I started writing up this list Vol. 2 was not yet out, but with it’s release last week the combined work – 32 total songs! –  demonstrate an amazing depth of material he’s already created in a relatively short professional career.)
 
7. Good Souls Better Angels, Lucinda Williams – Williams is a highly underrated American song writing legend. For decades she’s been a song-writer’s song writer but for me personally I think this is her best album. There’s a darker, grittier production to the arrangements that seems tailor made for her voice. Then there’s the imagery of her lyrics, the way she creates stories with deceptively simple lines, that she employs in what feels like an album destined to help guide us through the turmoil of 2020. 
 
8. Snapshot of a Beginner, Nap Eyes – Nigel Chapman may have a love-it-or-hate-it vocal style. Think Phil Elverum (Microphones, Mount Eerie), Mark Oliver Everett (Eels), Charlie Fink (Noah and the Whale), or maybe John Roderick (The Long Winters). For me, the sound Chapman and the rest of his Canadian bandmates created with this album was a delightful mix of Stephen Malkmus (a well documented influence) and maybe the pop of an early 90’s era band like James. Then within that sound, Chapman generally creates a vibe of positive but laid back sentiment while guitarist Brad Loughead splashes in tastefully proportioned doses of melodic chaos. 
 
9. Coriky, Coriky – Like many people this year, I went though a period where I was feeling pretty overwhelmed by the ugliness of the outside world. At its peak, I found myself turning to the sounds I loved from the late 80’s and 90’s when (it seemed) life was simpler. Part of this involved a lot of Fugazi – a band that was more than I could appreciate as a 17 year old (and maybe still today). In June, when I heard Ian MacKaye’s new project Coriky was releasing an album I felt a newly re-sparked urge to check it out. While the genealogy of Fugazi is evident from the first track, this is not just an attempt to cash in on the nostalgia for yesteryear. This is sharp, intelligent music leveraging the well honed song writing skills of both MacKaye and bandmate Amy Farina to skewer the inequalities and abuses of our society.
 
10. Flower of Devotion, Dehd – At times this is garage rock laced with the reverberating echo of surf rock guitars. At other times it’s 80’s pop covered by a stripped down post-punk band. (Maybe even a splash of Blondie meets Tom Petty!) All combined, this Chicago band made a record that hit a sweet spot for me this year – music with attitude that’s still chill enough to let you groove along with it.
 
11. color theory, Soccer Mommy – Two years after releasing Clean, Sophie Allison’s sophomore album shows that despite being young and presenting what may seem like a carefree sound, she is a musician to be taken seriously. Not only has the attitude of her writing progressed with more confidence, she’s deftly threaded the line of adding richer sound production while still keeping the sincerity that made her immediately standout. 
 
12. Love is the King, Jeff Tweedy – I’d guess some folks argue Tweedy’s songwriting has become less biting and more muted over the years. And throughout many patches of this record, the sound is very simple and even muted, reflecting the washed-out, gray, and sparse environment captured in the album’s cover photo. But with Love is the King I felt this stemmed from the well of maturity, confidence, and resolve Tweedy instills in his music now. It is simple, almost workman like. For me, this album could be the equivalent of watching a truly gifted carpenter at their work, marveling at the simple elegance of a master in their element.
 

HONORABLE MENTION

Saint Cloud, Waxahatchee
Untitled (Black Is), SAULT
Reunions, Jason Isbell
Daughter, Lydia Loveless
Dinner Party: Dessert, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, and 9th Wonder
Punisher, Phoebe Bridgers