Anything On Your Mind?
2015! If my internal narrative is right, I should see this year as being more in-step with what was going on with music. In this telling, Pyrrhon knocked me out of my complacency, and I was out there really beating the bushes for great music. There’s no particular musical thing from this year that stands out for me especially, although I’m sure I’ll be surprised when I look over the releases for the year. And so, let’s have a look at RateYourMusic’s list for the year. Oh yeah! Kendrick Lamar had a pretty good record that year, didn’t he?
Anyway, I have eight of those records in my collection, fewer than one of my low years, proving I don’t know shit about shit.
What Are You Listening To, Josh?
A sampling of albums that I’m playing regularly, whether older ones or newer ones. Just the things that I think are worth highlighting, and maybe you’d enjoy.
We’re going to have a look at some notable 2015 releases now. And no, I’m not going to tell you To Pimp a Butterfly is good, come on, be serious. Absolutely nobody wants to read me writing about Kendrick, least of all me.
What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World, The Decemberists
I have listened to a lot of the Decemberists. I know that they’re a favorite punching bag of some folks, due to Colin Meloy’s instantly recognizable multi-syllabic approach to any word that strikes his fancy, or because people think they’re too fey, or whatever. But I happen to think they’re a lot of fun. It’s great to sing along to, especially when Meloy is really making a meal out of some wo-oi-err-d or whatever. Hard to capture it in writing. A bunch of their records are on permanent rotation for me, but I was a little disappointed in The King is Dead when it came out. They’d gone so far with the progressive folk thing on previous records and tried on some rock moves on The King is Dead, and I just didn’t quite gel with it. It’s not a bad record, I just don’t spin it too much. So, to my delight, the following record, this one, really returned back to the previous approach. Is it as good as, say, Picaresque or The Crane Wife? Well, no. But there are plenty of memorable tunes here: “The Singer Addresses His Audience” is one of their all-timers, “Philomena” has a delightful chorus, it’s just a good time. Damn shame about the record after this.
Freedom Tower: No Wave Dance Party 2015, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Well, as long as I’m talking about old warhorses, JSBX put out a new record in 2015, to my surprise. I had kind of thought they had hung it up, but they had one more buzz around the studio in them. They’d survived one hiatus already, and the band had clearly been wobbling, but they managed to get in there, strip it back to basics, and crank out one final fine record. It sounds almost like a throwback to maybe Acme to me, with lots of groove going on in the tunes. It’s a worthy capstone to a great career, and while it’s not their finest work, it’s for sure one I’m glad they put out. Alas, it is the final JSBX record, as Judah Bauer developed a respiratory illness that meant he couldn’t continue. If you fell off the Explosion years ago, give this a turn and nod along.
Deeper Than Sky, Vhöl
John Cobbett is a dang genius. Ludicra was a fantastic black metal band, Hammers of Misfortune is ridiculous fun, and Vhöl’s two records are both amazing. I’ll listen to anything the guy puts out. I guess they’re thrash records, I suppose, but there are enough elements of traditional heavy metal here and there, some hardcore touches, I guess maybe a suggestion of black metal, it’s kind of omnivorous. It just rips really hard. Both records rule, and if you can avoid banging your head to this, you are made of sterner stuff than I am. I cannot wait to see what Cobbett does next, but seriously, check out this record if an absolutely ripping thrash record (that can go beyond that box) sounds like a good time.
Let’s Talk New Releases
Records come out every week, and there’s no way to stay on top of them. This isn’t a comprehensive look at everything, just a few things that have caught my ears out of recent releases. Any impressions here are very early!
Cygnus, Brass Mask
I talk about some of the rules around here, which together comprise an incoherent set of listening triggers that ensures that my music collection is an unappealing mess. Including to me sometimes. But, hell, at least I’m honest about my idiocy. Anyway, one of those rules is that if I see a band featuring one of our portlier brass instruments, I’m all over it. Baritone? Hell yeah. A sousaphone? Blast me into the grave, buddy. A tuba? Please club me to death with it and then blatt out a tune at my funeral.
In other news, this album features the euphonium. So, you know. Rules are rules.
Fall Out of the Future, Hedge Burners
Sometimes, this stuff just isn’t that deep. There are times when I might talk about an incendiary hardcore album, a collection of guttural blergs masquerading as a metal album, some kind of avant-garde noodling that goes out of its way to challenge what a song even is, or some other intentionally obstreperous record. I do it because I’m a pain in the ass. No, wait, I’m doing it because it’s good to challenge yourself! There’s a certain amount of gravity on on taste when it comes to any kind of culture, whether music, books, movies or whatever. If you don’t keep pushing your on your comfort, at least a little, that gravity is going going to just slowly pull your taste down to the ground.
First, you find yourself mostly listening to albums you already know. That’s OK, you have pretty broad tastes, some of these albums were really cool back in the day! I mean, maybe you don’t always listen to the albums, exactly, but there are some skips there, you know? It’s just easier to do a playlist instead, you don’t have those skips that way. Playlists can still be cool! And you’ve got some really good playlists, some fun stuff in there! You don’t listen to most of them, you mostly listen to your favorites, because they’re just right there. But in case you ever want them, the other ones are still there. Some time, when you are in the mood for something different. If you’re being honest, you’ve started just kind of letting it go and recommend stuff most recently, you’ve been so busy with work, it’s easier, but it’s really not too bad at it. At least you’re listening to your music, right? Music, at any rate.
The destination here is just constantly turning on some “lo-fi beats to surrender your sense of self to” playlist on YouTube. All because you didn’t choose to listen to the obnoxious crap I post here.
I have good news for you, though. Throw all that shit about obnoxious music. This record is really easy to listen to. It’s some jangly rockers. I like it! Maybe you will too! And it’s in only 102 collections on Bandcamp at the time of writing. And now you’re also hip again! Nice.
Weston-le-Clay, Aidmoozic
OK, back to the bullshit. Always kind of fun to hear a punk record this fast that doesn’t rely on noise and distortion to blast your face off. This is about seven minutes of taut fun. Gets in, gets out, good times.
Five Random Songs
Yes, it’s the “classic” five random songs format. It’s been told before on this blog many times, but basically, on an old forum, people would post the last five songs their shuffle pulled up. I liked it, so I made it into a blog. And now, here we are.
“Song for Marion Brown”, Superchunk
Jeff Rosenstock suggested in his newsletter that Indoor Living would be one of his suggested starting points for Superchunk, which caused me to re-evaluate the record. In my mind, I divide their records up into three groups (well, four, really). The first group is the debut, which was kind of before the band had fully formed. It’s good, it has “Slack Motherfucker” on it, but it’s for sure not the starting point and is the sort-of group. Records two through five (No Pocky For Kitty, On the Mouth, Foolish, Here’s Where The Strings Come In) are Peak Superchunk in my head, the high-energy records that are all basically perfect. Of that group, I think On The Mouth is the most consistent (and Jeff does recommend that one as well). The next three records (Indoor Living, Come Pick Me Up, Here’s to Shutting Up) are Mature Superchunk, where tempos slow down a little, there’s a little less energy in the room, some strings are involved, and it’s the sound of a band kind of settling in a bit. The last group, Reunion Superchunk, I covered in another entry, so I won’t repeat myself too much here.
Anyway, Jeff’s endorsement got me hauling out Indoor Living for some more listening to see if maybe I was missing the boat. And I’ll say, while I gained some more respect for the record, I don’t think it really changes my opinion. It’s the best of the Mature Superchunk records, but it does still feel like it’s from a different phase of the band, and I prefer the other two eras of the band. Still: good record. They’ve never made anything less than a good record.
“Raise Your Hand”, Eddie Floyd
A Stax stalwart, Eddie Floyd cranked out a series of albums in the late 60s and 70s that were reliably fun to listen to. And, of course, being a soul artist in that time, there were roughly a zillion singles he put out around that time as well. This track comes from the 1993 compilation Rare Stamps, and honestly, it’s a little by-the-number Stax from that time period. Which means, of course, that it’s a good hang.
“Mother May I”, CeeLo Green
After scoring huge hits with “Crazy” (with Danger Mouse) and “Fuck You”, CeeLo did not, in fact, drop off the planet. Although I can’t really remember anybody talking about him much after The Lady Killer, the album with “Fuck You” on it. Other than, you know, all the problems he ran into including a felony charge that he pleaded no contest to, which I literally just learned about. Huh. Anyway, this record is fine, I guess, but it doesn’t have quite the joyous stuff on it like on The Lady Killer, so I mostly haven’t listened to it that much. Which is apparently true of everybody else.
“Just Let Go”, Sturgill Simpson
After a series of records in which Simpson aggressively stretched the bounds of what could still count as a country record, he decided to make just a straight-up bluegrass record. He lined up a band of ringers and picked out a bunch of his favorite songs and put together Cuttin’ Grass Vol 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions. And it’s a lot of fun! It proves that it wasn’t just the artist audacity that made him an interesting artists, but the songs themselves could stand on their own.
“Photons”, Kid Koala
This is a cut from Music to Draw To: Satellite, a contemplative record that takes his live show designed around slow music and made it into a studio record. Unlike his turntable focused work, it’s a very gentle album. The idea is that it’s something you listen to while doing something else. But as someone that can get things done while listening to all kinds of godawful racket, that use case never really sat right with me. Maybe it will with you, though.
(Editor’s note: I put a different track from the album in the playlist, because I couldn’t find this one.)