Woke up this morning and revisited an old friend The Rolling Stones ” Exile on Main Street”. In my opinion, this record one of the top 10 – 20 albums of the past several decades. Not a dog on the tracks, every song is a scorcher. If you are close to my age no further explanation needed, if not, I urge you to stop what you are doing stop right now and check it out. Your life will be better for it. Pure Rock and Roll – Keith and Mick at their artistic best. As I understand it they left England for tax reasons and moved to the south of France where “Exile” was recorded. The rest, as they say, is history.
No time like the present to start compiling the best albums of the year. Stay tuned to this space as this list will be constantly updating.
001. The Delines – The Imperial
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Every song could be an episode of True Detective on this one. The songwriting is living on the edge middle America Noir with every character seemingly living on the razors edge. Brooding Country-Soul courtesy of Willy Vlautin and his muse Amy Boone.
002. Liz Brasher – Painted Image
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This one is likely to be on the list of best debut albums of the year. With vintage Dusty Springfield old school grooves mixed with contemporary Blues swirling throughout there is a definite new age feel to the record to complement the vintage sounds. “Cold” baby sounds like Otis Redding’s long lost sister.
003. Red Rum Club – Matador
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With Matador, as debut albums go, Liverpool sextet The Rum Club has delivered a record that is sure to be on most of the Best-Of lists once the end of the year rolls around. With a distinct gumbo of a sound that is part 80’s Brit-Rock, part Psychedelic Rock, Part 60’s Surf-Garage, part Tarantino-Noir, and all cool, the texture of the album changes from track to track with even more influences filtering through the ears upon multiple listens.
004. The Twilight Sad – It Won’t Be Like This All the Time
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Given the dark often gloomy tenor of this record it should come as no surprise that Robert Smith of the Cure is a big fan of this Scottish four piece band. In fact, he was sort of a musical muse on this record. A grower of an album, after a few listens of this you will definitely feel alive.
005. Maggie Rogers – Heard It In A Past Life
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It is her singing voice that carries the day here as Maggie Rogers moves effortlessly between singer songwriter fare and electronic pop. Fully prepared not to enjoy this album, the jaunty 80’s Olivia Newton John vibe of “Give a Little” and the more folk-centric jam of her debut single “Alaska” made a believer out of these ears.
006. The Steel Woods – Old Woods
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This Americana and Outlaw Country by way of Southern Rock band is the real deal. The opening couple of riffs on the lead off song, “All of These Years” will have you digging out your old Lynyrd Skynyrd records, and if that’s not enough, their cover versions of “Whipping Post” along with Petty’s ” Southern Accents” will direct your attention to the music that these guys discovered when they were growing up.
007. Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow
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The consistent tone and perspective change on this, Sharon Van Etten’s fifth album, makes this one an extremely enjoyable listen. “Seventeen” is likely to be on many best songs of the year listings.
The year is still taking a while to get cranked up but there were are a few notable records released today you should be checking out.
Ronnie Milsap – The Duets
We haven’t really heard from Ronnie Milsap lately, but this latest record with a load of really top notch friends is really worth your attention. With appearances from Leon Russell, George Strait, Billy Gibbens, Kacey Musgraves and many more, the song selections are contemporary and Ronnie is in fine voice. And, of course, Willie Nelson jumps in on “A Woman’s Love.”
Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow
Five albums in Sharon Van Etten has really found her groove. The subtle flow of this record will have you entering a hazy fog that will really envelop you. This one will be on the best of the year lists for sure.
Maggie Rogers
Maggie Rogers is an artist that seems to be on the precipice of a major breakthrough. The album has some really fine hooks along with a Pop sensibility that is subtle and captivating at the same time. On the strength of her single “Alaska” Maggie Rogers is in for a good ride.
Danny Burns – North Country
Originally from Ireland, Danny Burns has been living in the United States for twenty years. Obviously he has made a lot of cool friends in that time as Tift Merritt, Jerry Douglas, Holly Williams, Dan Tyminski, and Tim O’Brien all show up on this highly excellent debut record.
The Steel Woods – Old News
There is no sophomore slump with these guys, their second release, Old News, is top notch. Southern Rock fanciers to the bone, they pay tribute to many of their heroes on this one. From the Allman’s “Whipping Post” to Petty’s “Southern Accents” on to Mighty Merle’s classic “Are the Good Times Really Over” everything is laid out rare and spare for the listener to soak in.
Sorry Greta Van Fleet, the Struts are the best Rock and Roll band on the planet right now. Dispensing with their Queen frocks for a song they bring Tom Morello on stage for as scorching a version of Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.”
Fat White Family are back and the first single from their upcoming release, Serf’s Up, has just been dropped. Changing their sound to a Depeche Mode vibe, this will be their debut release for Domino records. The band temporarily dropped their respective side-piece bands The Moonlandigz and Insecure Men to reform Fat White Family. Look for the record on April 19th.
Sub Pop Records is always pretty much assured to throw you a musical curveball with their eclectic stable of wonderful artists, and Orville Peck is no exception. If Country Goth was not a genre before, it is now. The new record, Pony, will hit the shelves on February 22nd.
A new collection of previously unreleased recordings from singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt has been announced. Sky Blue collects early drafts of songs like “Pancho and Lefty” and “Rex’s Blues,” recorded with Bill Hedgepeth in 1973. It also features two songs that have never been heard before—“Sky Blue” and “All I Need”—and covers of songs by Richard Dobson and Tom Paxton.
Sky Blue arrives March 7 (what would have been Van Zandt’s 75th birthday) via TVZ/Fat Possum.
The legend that is Allen Toussaint makes this one his own on an Austin City Limits Live performance. You can check out his studio version of the Paul Simon tune on his 2016 posthumously released album. American Tunes.
Ex Hex is made up of the power trio of Mary Timony, Betsy Wright, and Laura Harris. The band smashed their way onto the scene in 2014 with the album Rips, an album that garnered much critical acclaim and was on top of many best album of the year lists. Now, in advance of the new record It’s Real that comes out on March 22nd, we are treated to a sign of the marvelous sounds that will soon reach our collective ears.
Yet another of the really cool bands to come out of Nashville. A Rock band with an Americana bent to their vibe, “Radio” is the first single to be released from these guys that just finished touring with Tyler Childers, Margo Price and Nicki Lane. Look for the new record, In Unison, scheduled to be released on February 1.
The year is still taking a while to get cranked up but there were are a few notable records released today you should be checking out.
Rock Is The New Roll 