Musing

2022 almost got it right.  A grand total of 21 new releases - one short of perfect - crossed my desk last year.  It was enough that I couldn't even get to all of them.  So with apologies to Turnover, Jaws of Love, Richard Edwards, Trampled by Turtles, and Beirut, their albums aren't going to feature in this post in any other capacity.  I've probably heard half of the Turnover album already just because they released so many singles, but I haven't found the right moment to sit down with this one and all of the other mentioned. The full list of eligible albums is:   Florence + the Machine Dance Fever Glen Phillips There Is So Much Here Collective Soul Vibrating Charlie Winston As I Am Death Cab for Cutie Asphalt Meadows Muse Will of the People Embrace How To Be A Person Like Other People Hanson RGB Liam Gallagher C'mon You Know Andrew Bird Inside Problems Shearwater The Great Awakening The Smile A Light for Attracting Attention Bear's Den Blue Hours Arcade Fire WE...

There were quite a few "big names" in my library that released new albums this year.  For the most part, everyone's effort was appreciated.  As usual, we have the Outstanding, Good, and Eh? groups of albums. Outstanding: Violet Street by Local Natives Local Natives went a bit sideways with their second and third albums, so I wasn't really tuned in to their 4th album's recording status.  They recorded videos for several tracks that were recommended to me through YouTube; luckily I trusted the system enough to click and watch.  Not only is the album Album of the Year, the song "When Am I Gonna Lose You?" - video below - grabs Song of the Year. Consequence of Sound has a great track-by-track breakdown of the whole album by the band that talks about the evolution of each final song that's really interesting.  There's also a "leftover" that was just released called "Nova" that's really good. My Finest Work Yet ...

New Year's Resolution 2018:  Post more than I did in 2017.  Sorry. This year's eligible album list is: Ah, The World! Oh, The World! All This Life As You Were Who Built The Moon? A Blaze of Feather Blindfaller Crack-Up Everything Now Little Fictions One More Light Lemon Cotton Candy Sunset Pleasure Red Pill Blues Wonderful Wonderful It's mostly a list of surprises.  The Gallagher brothers both did the unexpected - Liam released something that sounds fresher and more genuine than anything he's sang in over a decade while Noel released a mostly upbeat album.  The Killers almost did well enough on Wonderful Wonderful to make up for the atrocity that is Battle Born .  I didn't know what to expect from Richard Edwards' solo album, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised.  Tom McRae released an extremely chill and heartfelt album in a beautiful little red book; think Amnesiac with fewer minotaurs and more recipes for fish.  Meanwhile,...