Executive Summary:
Fuck this year.
Seriously.
I'll admit this isn't an original sentiment.
Abstract:
Let me set your expectations right up top here by saying please do not read this for any wise words on this horrendous year. I spent enough time on that here, here, here, well, you get the idea. Right now, I'm just going to focus on the newer (to me) music (or whatever) that got me through it.
However...
Best Humans:
Smarter people than me have identified the heroes and villains. But here's my very short list of the former. If you can't figure out the latter by now, I can't help you
- Every fucking doctor/nurse/tech/health care worker in the country.*
- Every first responder or front line essential worker.*
- Every teacher.*
- Every mom trying to figure out whether to send their child to school and go to work or to stay home with them.
- Anthony Fauci
- Various internet voices like Don Winslow/John Fugelsang etc.
* Sorry to get all topical and everything, but if you agree with these statements, but don't wear a mask you're part of the problem.
Best Books:
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
The unabridged version, running 1400 or so pages. Overlong, but so was the French Revolution (which this book is NOT about, but kind of is anyway). Funny, too.
Air Guitar by David Hickey
High-falutin' but never pretentious art theory, which includes but is not limited to Chet Baker, Female Wrestling, Las Vegas, and Perry Mason.
The Mirror and the Light by Hillary Mantel
Henry VIII was an okay king, a bad husband, and an even worse boss.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Overlong and perhaps overrated, but with many sublime moments.
Best Movies:
I didn't really see any so I don't really give a shit. Or is that vice versa?
Best TV:
Bojack Horseman
Better Call Saul
The Good Place
Schitt's Creek
Watchmen
Music Awards:
Most Work (But Worth it): Fiona
Most Work (And Possibly Not Worth It): Bill Evans, but the jury is still out.
Most Surprising (and Not Necessarily in a Good Way): Bad Bunny I meant to get Beach Bunny!
Most Disappointing: Bill Evans, but only because he's not Bud Powell or Thelonious Monk.
Best Artist: Fiona (writer, singer, pianist)
The Best:
- Big Thief: UFOF (2019) Mrs. Jaybee hates all the soft-voiced women I'm listening to lately, but I love the utter simplicity of the songs and arrangements.
- Purple Mountains: Purple Mountains (2019) Crushing depression has rarely been so entertaining.
- Fiona Apple: Fetch the Bolt Cutters (2020) Man, this one's a lot of work, but it's worth it.
- Funkadelic: Motor City Madness (2006) I'm cheating a bit because I usually don't include compilations, but this one deserves it. I was inspired by my going back to an early best of during the depths of the pandemic. This is o obviously rock n' roll that all I can do is scratch my head and wonder how we missed it back then. They picked up where Sly left off and then handed things off to hip hop before disintegrating.
- Frank Ocean: Channel Orange (2012) Wonderfully diverse, melodic, and entertaining.
- Devo: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978) For a so-called weird record, this is quite tuneful and consistent.
- Fripp and Eno: Evening Star (1975) This is the one where dial things back from the other more experimental - but weirdly fun - one I picked up this year. Pretty, weird, with just a touch of ominous.
- D'Angelo: Black Messiah (2015) It's great to hear a band (as opposed to just a singer) chugging through these very funky songs one after the other.
- Fountains of Wayne: Utopia Parkway (1999) Sharper than their first. Their satire is bolder but manages to retain their humanity.
- Beyonce: Lemonade (2016) Pretty slick but all that production is put to good use.
Latecomers like Classic Collaborations with John Coltrane (8 albums!) and The Last Concert by the Modern Jazz Quartet (a double) don't make an appearance. And poor Bill Evans is just too subtle over the course of his 12(!) album collection to crack the top ten. But time is on his side.
Some of the best songs I heard this year can be found here.
Conclusions:
This music is probably even better than I'm saying it is. After all, it had more to do than it would have to in a typical year. It couldn't bring just joy or inspiration. It had to provide a lifeline. That's a lot to ask. Too much, really.
And although there have been glimmers of hope in the last two months, one family member died and another just got Covid, so we are not out of the woods yet.
I hope 2021 lets us relax a little. But I wouldn't go as far as this.
Be well.
