2017 Leftovers

There was so much good music last year, and so much of it pop, instant gratification was the order of the year, and there were some artists I didn’t even get to mention.



Todd Snider: Agnostic Hymn & Stoner Fables (2012)

Todd’s a pal of John Prine and Jimmy Buffet, but if you think you’re going to get good time happy music a la Buffet or even personal soul searching a la Prine, uh, no. Todd likes talking about people who have gotten the short end of the stick.

This is strong stuff, delivered with loud and sloppy rock and roll. Todd doesn’t f*ck around, and calls ‘em as he sees ‘em.

Todd’s taking no prisoners here. Before we’re even halfway through, he’s giving us the history of religion, the financial crisis, thrill kill kids, a big middle finger to Nashville and a pathetic love story. All through the lens of smalltown folk.

Like a good strong drink, it’s great, but not something you should have too often.

A-

"In the Beginning"



Margaret Glaspy: Emotions and Math (2016)

This is strong but not loud. “Muscular” is the word that comes to mind. This young woman plays with minimal accompaniment. She’s got a husky voice and plays a distortion-drenched electric guitar.

She’s about halfway between early PJ Harvey and TuneYards.

She can sing and play. She’s also unreasonable and impossible to please.

The tunes are wiry but insistent. Every time you hear them you hear a little more than before.

A-

"Emotions and Math"



Destroyer: Kaputt (2011)

This is oh, so smooth. The smooth singing, the smooth background, the smooth sax. Christ, even the smooth guitar playing. It’s almost like being in an old nightclub. And since it maintains that same tone throughout, it can really get on your nerves if you were hoping for something more energetic or raw.

But when an emotion occasionally rises to the surface, it’s pretty moving.

It’s very easy to listen to, and so gets played a lot.

But it’s not quite addictive.

B+

"Chinatown"



Gillian Welch: Time the Revelator (2001)

This is not bad at all, but Ms. Welch’s voice is a bit too mellow for my taste. It suits her well on the first and last cuts, which are slow and languorous.

But the guitar playing is just plain sloppy. Oh, you meant it that way you say?

“Everything is Free” is the best song here. It’s relatively short, and Gillian is pissed. It’s got a nice melody. I wish more of them were like it. However, I do really the last slow one, where she gets it all right.

B+

“I Dream a Highway”



Joe Ely: The Best of...

He's a singer out of Texas from back in the seventies. He’s got a clear, strong tenor. Not too deep and not too wimpy. And - what a relief - he doesn’t wear a f*cking cowboy hat.

This is lean and occasionally mean. It’s spare and clean. It only rocks out when called for.

Ah, but not quite compelling.

B+

"She Never Spoke Spanish To Me"



Grandaddy: Under the Western Freeway (1997)

Slow weird and hazy as hell. Even The Sophtware Slump kicked in sooner than this.

And it keeps getting interrupted by crises whenever I put it on, but that’s not Grandaddy’s fault.

It does wear you down after a while, but not enough. Try the great Sophtware instead.

B

"Go Progress Chrome"



Randy Newman: Dark Matter (2017)

Randy’s getting soft. There are at least three songs that convey actual vulnerability.

There are the “political” ones, too, which are always fun.

But it doesn’t quite pack the punch of albums like Good Old Boys or 12 Songs.

B+

"Wandering Boy"



Various Artists: American Classic (2017)

This five-disc set of Americana, blues and a lot more is like a cleaned up version of Anthology of Folk Music - a six disc monster, legendary in its time.

This one’ll take a while to digest.

But it’s looking good.

A

"I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground"



Nick Cave: Lovely Creatures (2017)

Nick’s been around for quite a while but I had nothing by him at all. So why not plunge into the abyss with this three-disc set?

Nick is one of those Brits who’s a little too committed to American folk and yet feels he has to add his own weirdness to it. Early Americana (see American Epic) is weird enough, thank you very much

But he goes for ballads on disc 2, and then Dylaneque rock on disc 3.

So this might not be the torture it first portended.

B+

"God Is In the House"



Sonic Youth: Dirty (1992)

It’s taken me a while to admit it but I just don’t like Kim Gordon. She can’t sing and doesn’t bother to write anything resembling a melody. I much prefer the more cerebral side of SY. But for every one of the latter you get one of the former, So it doesn’t get a lot of play.

B

"Theresa's Sound World"



Courtney Barnett: The Double EP, A Sea of Split Peas

Courtney’s got the rare talent for coming up with simple melodies and effects that, together with her laidback vocal delivery add up to way more than the sum of the parts.

In its way, even better than Sit/Think. A little more laid back and melodic. you can certainly hear the seeds of the Sit/Think songs here.

A nice surprise at the end of the year.

A

"Don't Apply Compression Gently"


So that’s it.

I’ll be focusing on records from the current decade for a while. Oh, except for the two I’ve gotten already, neither of which is.

So my performance regarding new Years resolutions can be described as “typical”.

Seventh Annual Jaybee-bies: Listening to Fiddling While Rome Burns

Best of Times, Worst of Times, Ho-hum:

So how good a year was it (Musically speaking)?

Great! I’m usually complaining about now but this time around I really can’t.

There hasn’t been anything quite as great as last year’s Teens of Denial by Car Seat Headrest, but 2017 was way more consistent than 2016.

It’s been such a good year musically that even though I didn't get any great holiday (my definition) music, I realize that was probably too much to ask for. In a way, I did get it, just too early, and everything since then has been trying to catch up. Most of it great stuff, too. Just not for the holidays.

It was so good that my son’s record - good as it is - just made the top 10. But I have to grade him hard here, don’t I?

And how bad a year was it?

Well, my mom died in 2017, along with an uncle, aunt and cousin. I made a playlist for her. The effort involved digging into a lot of music from my childhood, which was emotionally draining. So it’s a good thing that the music was there for me.

And, of course, there’s this sociopath trying to destroy the country, but hey, what the fuck, right?

(I Still Suck at) Resolutions:

I still say “awesome” and “let's get on the same page” way too much.

I don’t get 10,000 steps in a day.

I don’t write 1,000 words per day.

I don’t exercise.

I don’t eat enough vegetables.

I eat too many sweets. (Hey, I thought dark chocolate was a health food!)

I could probably cut down on the drinking a bit.

So how can you expect me to follow my musical resolutions, like getting guitar lessons from my son Michael?

So how did I do with last years resolutions?

Buying fewer CDs: A  mp3s: 20  CDs: 9

Buying Current Year Music: B-  Still pretty crappy. Just Randy Newman, American Epic (if that counts, Nick Cave (if that counts), Jens Lekman, the New Pornographers.

2018 Resolution: 

Catching up on the current decade: I’ll be focusing on the 2010s and so may not do so well on the Current Year Music resolutions. Nothing like clashing resolutions to start off a successful year!


Top Ten Albums:

Tied for first:
Innocence Mission: Glow (1995) - Their seeming lightness is overcome by sheer joy.
New Pornographers: Whiteout Conditions (2017) - A big ole box of hooks and snark. 
King Creosote and John Hopkins: Diamond Mine (2011) - Like Glow, this one is so fragile you think it's going to break, but it never does.
Loudon Wainwright III: Older Than My Old Man Now (2012) - An older, wiser man looks death, and even worse - family - in the eye.
Courtney Barnett: The Double EP, A Sea of Split Peas (2013) - She's sly, she's funny, she's a bit insecure, but she's got a great deadpan delivery

6. Car Seat Headrest: Teens of Style (2015) - Some hooks and sounds even more brilliant than Denial, but hampered by airplane-hangar sound.
7. Jon Hopkins: Immunity (2013) - In a genre not reknown for deep emotion, this one wears you down until you hear the heart beating underneath.

8. Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now (2017) - He writes in a style even my mom would have liked, and happens to be pretty great, too.

9. Todd Snider: Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables (2012) -  Strong medicine, this explains how Trump happened. I'd buy it if he could have explained why Bernie didn't happen.

Tied for tenth:
Death Cab for Cutie: The Open Door EP (2009) - Expert, driven, tuneful music.
Forlorne: The Old and Weathered Glass (2017) - Son of blogger gets even better.
Low: Things We Lost in the Fire: (2001) - This one feels like they know 9/11 is coming and they're already in mourning.
Roots: How I Got Over (2010) - Combines the best of Kanye and Lamar.
Future Islands: Singles  (2014) - Just a shade shy of awful, they manage to do all the right things to make it almost soulful.

Yeah, I cheated. There are fourteen.

Honorable Mentions:
Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and the Jazz All Stars, Kanye West, Miles Davis, Cloud Nothings.

Am I saying that the Top Ten are better music than the Honorable Mentions? Yes, but just for now.


Most Fun: New Pornographers

Most Bracing: Todd Snider

Most Work (But Worth it): Kendrick Lamar, American Epic

Most Work (And Possibly Not Worth It): Nick Cave

Most Surprising: Innocence Mission

Most Disappointing: Sonic Youth: Dirty

Best Artist: Courtney Barnett

Favorite Songs: My favorites can be found here:


Observations:

Pop beat out everything. It beat out hip-hop and jazz. Hip-hop because it’s not one of a go-to genre of mine, and jazz because those records were already familiar to me and thus lose out to the new.

One might think protest music would be the order of the day but sometimes pop - not stupid, empty pop, but instead smart, brainy pop - was the right medicine.

Last year’s music gave me hope. Let’s see how far into 2018 it gets me.

Fifth Annual Jaybee-bies, or, 2015, I Want My Money Back

Looking for My Receipt:

I’m finally getting around to my 2015 round up. Just before people forget there was a 2015, I hope.

It was a long, frustrating year, where I got about forty albums and very, very few of them managed to bowl me over. I was beginning to think I was losing my taste for music.

And other things. It took Mrs. Jaybee to remind me of that wonderful trip to Italy and Son Michael’s graduation (more on him later) that it wasn’t such a bad year after all.

But still, musically, I’m left a little less than ecstatic, and I’m looking for my receipt for 2015 so that I can return it.


My Ears Are Bigger Than My Head (Literally True!)

Dear 2015, it’s not you, it’s me.

You see, I’m in a cycle that goes like this:

I buy a lot of music.
I lean towards exploration instead of the familiar.
Then I complain that nothing hitd me right away.
So I go and get more music to make up for that.

This is dumb. (And may be a poem, too.) I mean, what did I expect?

But then I think about an individual song or album I have that I feel very lucky to have. Then I think about how many records I have that fit that description. You’d think there would be enough of it by now. Apparently not.

And really, how much do I need? I still haven’t answered that question satisfactorily. And even if 2015 was disappointing, I can’t imagine not getting new music in 2016.


Lack of Resolution:

So How Did I Do with My 2015 Resolutions?  Great, because I didn’t make any, having so resoundly failed on my 2014 ones. I even repeated those failures in 2015:  More new music than ever, 75% of it CDs (thanks to my amazon.com boycott) which now having taken over the CD rack completely, are expanding blitzkrieg-like into the bookshelf,

I did manage four records from 2015, two of them thanks to son Michael. One he bought and one he made!

So, no resolutions. They - along with self improvement in general - are way overrated.


Second Thoughts, or Regrets? I’ve Had a Few:

I gave all my 2015 records another listen to see if I’ve changed my mind about anything. Especially the ones that disappointed me. Mostly no.

Ex Hex: Rips - Expertly played punk/hard rock I could swear I heard before and probably did so why bother?

The Smiths: The Queen is Dead - Thanks guys, but I had all the good songs already. link

The Clean: Anthology Almost ditto link.  Every (well, almost every) cut is unique and worthwhile, but by the middle of the second disk I feel as though I’ve been left to wander the wilds of New Zealand without a guide. It can be fun, but there may be better things to do. (Ocean of Sound is kind of like that too, but since the whole point of that record is to get lost, it wouldn’t be fair to criticize it for that).

Music from the HBO Film As You Like It - A lovely main theme sprinkled repetitively throughout “movie music”. I probably would have been fine with getting the individual track. (An idea whose time has come, by the way. Buy more individual songs, thus avoiding disappointing albums. Hey, I've got a resolution after all!)  Not bad, mind you. Just nothing I’d reach out to because I’m never in the mood for it.


Top Tens(e):

While patting myself on the back that I managed a handful of actual 2015 albums this year, it’s still pretty paltry compared to Nutboy’s list. He to 2015 and managed seven (7. Josh Ritter - Sermons on the Mount, 6. Blur - Magic Whip, 5. Craig Finn - Faith in the Future, 4. Wilco - Star Wars 3. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit, 2. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell, 1. Bob Dylan - The Cutting Edge . Vol.12)

He did the same with movies, too.  (10. Inside Out ..  9. Sicario  8. Love and Mercy  7. Steve Jobs  6. Creed  5. Spotlight   4. Amy   3. The Revenant  2. The Big Short  1. Mad Max - Fury Road)

I only managed to see two movies this year. (Another resolution. Get out more!)

I’d hit back with a top ten list of books (none from 2015 though) but I suspect he just didn’t bother to show off. The man really ought to have a blog, but he’s too busy with current year music and movies (ie, having a life, hmmm, another resolution here?)

Anyway, here are my albums of my 2015:

1. Sufjan Stevens: Carrie and Lowell  (2015)  
2. Various Artists: Ocean of Sound (1996) 
3. Howlin’ Wolf : Howlin’ Wolf  (1962)  
4. Aretha Franklin: I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967) 
5. Courtney Barnett: Sometimes I Just Sit and Think…. (2015)  
6. Michael Burns: Mountain Mover EP  (2015)
7. Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (2000) 
8. Brian Eno & John Cale: Wrong Way Up (1990)  
9. Howlin’ Wolf: Moanin’ in the Moonlight (1962)  
10. and tied for tenth place Various Artists: Music from Shutter Island (2010), Yo La Tengo: Fakebook (1990), Withered Hand: New Gods (2014), Brian Eno/Harold Budd: The Pearl (1984), Wussy: Attica! (2014), Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois/Roger Eno: Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks (1983)

Top Songs:
Mike Burns: “Mountain Mover”
Sufjan Stevens: “The Only Thing”
Sufjan Stevens: “Fourth of July”
Coutney Barnett: “Debbie Downer”
Courtney Barnett: "Nobody Really Cares If you Don’t Go to the Party”
Brian Eno/John Cale: “Lay My Love”
Brian Eno/John Cale: “Been There, Done That”
Dinah Washington/Max Richter: “This Bitter Earth/On the Nature of Daylight” 
Yo La Tengo: "The Summer"
Yo La Tengo: "You Tore Me Down"
Yo La Tengo: "Deeper Into Movies"
Massive Attack: "Hymn of the Big Wheel"
The War on Drugs: "In Reverse"
Patrick Doyle: "Violin Romance"


Some Observations:

Familiar music suffers in comparison to new music simply because it can’t have the same impact on me any more. Otherwise Aretha and Howlin Wolf might be all over the top of the list.

Very good music in my favorite genres (pop, rock n’ roll) outdoes obviously great music in other genres (R&B), again impacting Franklin and Wolf.

I’m getting more and more music for less and less money, but have a sneaking suspicion that the musicians themselves are getting less and less a share of it..

I’ve prided myself on opting for the new - getting an album by a new artist rather than one by one I’m already familiar with. This is educational, and leads me to new discoveries. But dang it, it’s not always as much fun.


The Year of What?

So what was 2015 the “year of” for me?

In a way, it was the Year of Music to Go to Bed To. Not Music to Have Sex By mind you. Music to listen to while reading in bed and about to go to sleep. There was a ton of stuff that fit this category : Ocean of Sound, The Pearl, And Then Nothing…, Stuff Like That There, Neu!, As You Like It, Shutter Island The list goes on.

The Year of Aretha? You’d think so.  I got five Aretha Franklin albums in a single shot. (For $10 no less) They range from classic to very good.  That’s pretty good, right?  But those first two observations above knock her down a bit.

The Year of Yo La Tengo? Three albums ranging from nearly great to very good. And an almost transcendent show.  Christ, I even met them. But not quite.


The Year of the Tribute Band? 

Here’s my original take on why I find tribute bands - in principal - appalling.

The bottom line is, why would I want to pay to hear something like the music I like when I could listen to exactly the music I liked for free? If you want to hear a band, go put the record on. (Oh, come on, I know you have them!)

But I was underestimating the communal aspect of things. How better to enjoy music than with other like-minded people?

And besides, in two instances it inspired me to get more music by the artist. Once with a happy ending and once not so much. But the good more than made up for it.

• The Smiths - A cover band that inspired me to get The Queen is Dead. Good show. Disappointing record.
• PJ Harvey - Various artists did a tribute to Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - A great album to hear played live, but since Mrs. Jaybee can’t stand Harvey I had to see this one alone. 
• The Beatles - The Fab Faux at the City Winery on New Years Eve. It could have been a big let down and even boring, but it was neither. A very emotional musical highlight of the year. And let’s face it. Every year since 1963 has been the Year of the Beatles, as far as I’m concerned. So that wouldn’t make 2015 unique, would it?
• Brian Eno - Music for Enophiles, covering Eno’s semi-poppish 1974-79 period.  Me and Mrs. Jaybee had a great time at this show. We were hearing songs live that we hadn’t heard even on record for years. And it inspired me to go even deeper into Eno’s catalogue.

Which made 2015 the Year of Brian Eno, of course.

We'll talk.

Sitting, Thinking, Rocking, Rolling

In my endless quest to appear cool I have been doing my damnedest to stay current and Actually Buy An Album That Came Out This Year.

Son Michael helped out with Sufjan but it was time I did my part. So I grabbed this $5 download from that awful company that exploits its workers. (But I won’t anymore.) Thank God I got this before I found out.


Courtney Barnett: Sometimes I Just Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

This young woman got me from the first song. The first second, really. Right out of the gate, she sings the tale of the young man who may or may not be depressed, but who gets help from that older lady you thought was just a nasty bitch.  Heartwarming, uplifting, and you can dance to it.

She’s not afraid to dump a lot of words on you, and you don’t mind it because they’re all so funny or perceptive or both.

With her small, but very committed combo, she varies the pace and tone, going fast then slow, loud then soft. And she plays a mean guitar! She can go soft and smooth, loud and crunchy, or slow and bluesy as the moment requires.

These changes of pace and tone are crucial in holding your interest from song to song. Oh yeah, the songs. They’re kind of good, too.

She can be mean, as in:
I think you’re a joke 
but I don’t think you’re very funny

She stretches out the last word to fu-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-ny. You gotta keep the beat, after all.

She can also be matter-of-factly self-revealing, like:
I used to hate myself
but now I think I’m all right

So she earns the benefit of the doubt that in the former couplet, the intended target deserves it, and in the latter, she means it as advice for us, too.

And by the time we get to the bouncy, funny, angry “Debbie Downer” I’m ready to jump up and down. And that’s quite the sight to see!

That sense of humor, that irresistible Australian drawl, those songwriting chops, that guitar, that band. They almost almost single-handedly rehabilitate the electric piano!

And all this rock and roll is more fun than sad, sad Sufjan. (Not better, mind you, but more fun.)

And even though she ends it with two slow ones, by then you need the rest.

She’s funny, smart, tuneful and a damn good guitar player, and her band follows her wherever she goes.

I don’t blame them a bit.

A

“Debbie Downer”