Best of 2019

Best of 2019: Rob Perry’s Picks and Thoughts

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Below Rob Perry has listed ten albums that are his favorites released in 2019.  They are in no particular order but he can tell you that they all are really fine recordings.

  1. THE GET AHEAD – Deepest Light – April 2019 – Jullian Records

The+Get+Ahead-7The Get Ahead calls their eclectic blend of music “Americana Soul”. The unique combination of fiddle and saxophone, best done on the title track, naturally had me dreaming of Little Feat and the late Lowell George. Lead vocalist Nathan Earle’s tone really draws you in while the accomplished band is tight and cohesive.

My favorite tracks on the album are Sister Cities, Faint Outline, Deepest Light, and Special Breed.

  1. HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER – Terms of Surrender – September 2019 – Merge a4130119723_10Records

On this latest release, M.C. Taylor appears to have taken his Indie Folk collection of ‘would-be’ songs of despair and woven them into expressions of hope.  This album is filled with brilliant flashes of optimism and it’s the band’s best release in the past 5 years. Favorite songs include My Wing, Katy (You Don’t Have to Be Good Yet), and I Need a Teacher.

 

  1. NIGHT MOVES – Can You Really Find Me – August 2019 – Domino Music

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Thanks to The Current, KCMP radio for turning me on to this fantastic duo. Like the radio station, “Night Moves” calls the Minneapolis area home. This is their third album and boy is it a gem of dreamy psychedelia.

Don’t miss these tracks: Mexico, Strands Align, and Keep Me In Mind.

 

 

4. SUMMER CANNIBALS – Can’t Tell Me No – June 2019 – Tiny Enginesa1301309498_10

Part indie, part punk, this is an all-around razor-sharp record. This is what I imagine The Clash would be like if lead by a strong young woman. Enjoy the low-slung guitars arching upwards to Jessica Boudreaux’s weighty lyrics.

The best songs are One Of Many, False Anthem, and Can’t Tell Me No.

 

 

  1. LIZ BRASHER – Painted Image – January 2019 – Fat Possum Records

a3900028213_10With a thundering voice and a soulful style, Liz Brasher dropped her full-length debut LP in January 2019. The album has tinges of country, gospel, R&B, while weaving in elements of the Delta blues. Brasher doesn’t settle on one genre too long as she seems to effortlessly move from one style to another.

Her voice remains rock-steady, though. Must listens … Love Feasts, Cold Baby, and Blood of the Lamb.

 

  1. MATTIEL – Satis Factory – June 2019 – Heavenly Recordings

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I’ll bet Mattiel Brown grew up listening to all her parents’ albums. You can almost feel the Patti Smith, Velvet Underground, and Jefferson Airplane dripping from the creases of this record. It’s all-over-the-place funky-different, in a good way. I’m impressed with Mattiel’s vocal range and the way she easily seems to be able to switch vocal styles, too.

My favorite tracks are Keep the Change, Millionaire, and Populonia.

 

  1. FAYE WEBSTER – Atlanta Millionaires Club – May 2019 – Secretly Canadian

a1110224198_10Faye Webster’s new album is full of what I’d call melancholy folk-pop with tinges of soul and a little country thrown in there, too. Most of the tracks are gorgeously arranged and they seem to enhance Webster’s laid-back, hushed delivery. The pedal steel that appears on a few songs helps to add a brilliant and lush, layered sound.

My top songs include Kingston, Right Side of My Neck, and Room Temperature.

 

  1. STELLA DONNELLY – Beware of the Dogs– March 2019 – Secretly Canadian

a0497167441_10This is an indie pop record chock full of sweet-sounding songs, albeit with a killer bite. Donnelly writes songs that make you laugh, piss you off, and cause you to think. Plus, she’s really good at it. Guitar-driven hooks are her speciality. By the way, the title track is a stripped-down, solo anthem that’s both powerful and dreamy.

Other songs I enjoy are Tricks, Old Man, and Lunch.

 

  1. SHARON VAN ETTEN – Remind Me Tomorrow – March 2019 – Jagjaguwar

remind me tomorrow_sharon van ettenYou’ve probably heard of her. But this time around Sharon’s added some moody synthesizers to the mix. She hasn’t yet become too polite or politically correct but it’s evident she’s stepped out of her comfort zone, pushing boundaries and willing to explore more personal issues. This is her deepest and most complete work to date.

Potential to become a classic. Songs to hear … Comeback Kid, Seventeen, and Jupiter 4.

 

  1. JADE BIRD – Jade Bird – April 2019 – Glassnote Records

d77706-20190523-jade-bird-jade-birdLet me start by saying that this is not a perfect indie record. It is, though, a very nice debut album by an up-and-coming singer/songwriter. Her two greatest assets: Her gigantic voice and her amazing self-confidence. She won’t win album of the year awards for this record but it is a testament to what I think she’s going to become someday.

Three great songs included on this LP are Love Has All Been Done Before, Lottery, and 17.

 

Rob PerryRob Perry is an indie music superfan and one of the nicest people on the planet. His twitter account is @RobPerry64. Rob describes himself as MUSIC LOVER, Dreamer, Fly-Fisherman, USAF Veteran, LGBTQ+ Supporter from Plains GA & Raleigh NC, “Don’t get up gentlemen, I’m only passing through.”

Best of 2019: Brandon Berry of The Paint Spats’ Picks and Thoughts

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Best of 2019

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Misconstrued – Seth Gilliam & The Fake News

There hasn’t been one project that Seth has been a part of that hasn’t been astounding, and this album is no exception. I’d say the fella’s talented beyond his years, but I’m the same age and that would just make me depressed now, wouldn’t it?

 

Where Have I Been All Your Life? – John Dubuc’s Guilty Pleasures 61470138_554840258255776_5954152654669086720_o

John’s become one of my best friends over this past year. It all started because I told him that when I grow up, I want to be as good of a songwriter as him, and that’s the truth. I’ve never heard a record with such re-listen-ability-ness as this one. This record will live with you for a long time.

 

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What The Brokenhearted Do… – Tim Heidecker

This one blows my mind. Tim tricked us into thinking he got a divorce and wrote an entire record surrounding said divorce. He is the Andy Kaufman of music, a triple threat of awesome. Plus, he’s heavily influenced by Warren Zevon, which is no crime.

 

Bad Wiring – Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltagea0025309944_10

Because of my hankering for vinyl, a friend sent me the “LPs” music video from Jeffrey Lewis and I was enamored. This record has no shortage of great tunes, including “Except For The Fact That It Isn’t,” “Till Question Marks Are Told,” and “Exactly What Nobody Wanted.”

It’s easily become one of my favorite records of 2019.

 

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In League with Dragons  – The Mountain Goats

John Darnielle has been my biggest influence when it comes to my own songwriting. This album, in a way, feels like an experiment, or at least a divergence of style, which I love. There are a few country-esque tunes, and an 80s-inspired power ballad.

There’s adventure all across this one.

 

When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? – Billie EilishBillie_Eilish__When_We_All_Go_To_Sleep__Large

There is something dark and sinister that she’s bringing to the table that breaks up the monotony of the four-chord safety net that’s been implemented in pop music over the last few decades. Her live shows and music videos are out of this world. Billie gives me hope for music.

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Misery – Age Nowhere

Paul Monnin ripped me from my sad bachelor pad on Central in late 2018 to bring me to my first open mic in several years at Star City Brewing. I heard him play this before I knew anything about his band or his songwriting. I associate this tune with my entrance into the Dayton music scene, and it couldn’t have been a better one to remember it by.

 

 

a3408849665_10Transference – Overthought Musik

I am a firm believer of never moving the needle once it hits the grooves, but for some reason I break my own rule for this one. The whole record is a knockout, showcasing some of Dayton’s beloved heavyweights.

But this song, man. I can’t stop!

 

 

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Miami Memory – Alex Cameron

The fuzzed-out drums, the simple melodies and minimal musical distractions, Alex Cameron tells it like it is. The lyrics are dirty, comical, yet heartwarming, and the video just reinforces the point.

Every time I hear it, I feel like I’m falling in love all over again.

 

“What I Mean To You” – David Paynea1693069051_10 (1)

How can I make a best-of list and not include our good pal, David Payne? Like Nebraska before it, Orange Glow is an intimate record that gives you the sense that you’re being serenaded by a woeful traveler who shares the same heartbreak as you. After it’s over, all you can do is pour yourself – and your guest – a glass of whiskey and stare into the fireplace until the embers sizzle away with the sunrise’s orange glow. That’s what it means to me.

 

hqdefaultBrandon Berry is the sonic artist behind The Paint Splats. He loves long walks, sunsets and… just kidding he is a songwriter, videographer, photographer and visual artist who in his down time is watching VCR tapes and writing some of the catchiest indie and alt-country pop songs this side of the Mississippi. His latest record is Defacing the Moon, a split album with Mike Bankhead, available now. The Paint Splats are on twitter and instagram as @thepaintsplats.

Best of 2019: Mike Bankhead’s Picks and Thoughts

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Shrug – Easy is the New Harda1766992202_10

Shrug are stalwarts of the Dayton music scene, having been around for 25 years.  This is their first album to be released on vinyl, and as if that’s not enough, it’s a double.  Some of the songs on the track list that showed up in their sets 15 years ago (“New Amsterdam” and “Bender” being the oldest) coexist beautifully with new music that didn’t get played live until the album release show (“Powder” and “Follow the Captain”).  The result is probably the best, most eclectic work of their tenure, and certainly my favorite since 2002’s self-titled release.

    *favorite songs: “Powder”, “New Amsterdam”, “Follow the Captain”, “Blue Blanket”

 

220px-Sleater-Kinney_-_The_Center_Won't_HoldSleater-Kinney – The Center Won’t Hold

About the same time that Shrug was getting going here in Dayton, this band started up in Olympia, Washington.  This is their 9th album, and heads off in a different sonic direction from everything else in their catalog. This new direction cost them the powerful services of drummer Janet Weiss, as she departed the band just before they went on tour to support the album.  There is synth here, extra slick production, and pop sensibility, but it still sounds like a Sleater-Kinney album. That’s enough for me.

    * favorite songs: “Reach Out”, “Bad Dance”

 

911IuEsTDWL._SS500_Big Wreck – … but for the sun

Here’s a third band that formed in 1994.  Ian Thornley’s voice is the closest I have ever heard to Chris Cornell’s, and it’s still as powerful now as it was when I first discovered this band.  If you enjoyed Soundgarden in the past, I think you would like Big Wreck as well. This new effort is a big, loud, swaggering rock and roll record. You want guitar solos?  There are plenty of them here. You want riffage? There is plenty of that here. You like shouting along whilst driving? These songs are perfect for that.  

   *favorite songs: “In My Head”, “Give Us a Smile”,  “Alibi” 

 

767870659522_mainGuided By Voices – Sweating the Plague

How about a band that was already more than ten years old in 1994?  Indie rock royals Guided By Voices released three albums this year, because of course they did.  This one is the last of the three. I have had a hard time keeping up on all of Bob Pollard’s music over the years, and would only consider myself somewhat well-versed on the albums that came out between 1994 and 2004.  With that caveat in mind, this album isn’t what I was expecting. I heard tempo changes, a brief Boston-esque lead guitar harmony, a song that starts a capella, all paired up with the usual amount of fantastic hooks.

   *favorite songs: “Street Party”,  “Your Cricket Is Rather Unique”, “Immortals”

 

elbow_giantsofallsizes_mainElbow – Giants of All Sizes

Apologies to Oasis, but Elbow are now my favo(u)rite Manchester band.  This is their 8th studio album. Lyrically, it’s darker than what we normally get from them, but personal tragedies and these modern times will have that effect.  Guy Garvey’s pristine voice, the band’s orchestral use of dynamics, and at least one song with massive audience sing-along potential on the hook… those things are still here.  Also, Pete Turner continues to bring interesting choices to the bottom end, along with solid grooves from which most of the other instruments hang.

  *favorite songs: “Empires”, “White Noise White Heat”, “Weightless”

 

idlewild---interview-musicIdlewild – Interview Music

Let’s stay on the island of Great Britain for a moment, but head up north to Scotland.  I have five of this band’s first six albums on CD (I don’t have the first one). There was a time when I would listen to something from Idlewild just about every day.  Somewhere around 2008, I completely lost track of them. It wasn’t them, it was me. I’ve missed a couple of their albums, and nearly missed this one, only recently having discovered that it came out this year.  Other than the vocals (not the high ones), this doesn’t sound like the Idlewild I remember… there are plenty of atmospheric additions here, strings and reverb-drenched guitar and piano, and it’s all very lovely. I need to spend more time with this album, but I know that I’ll like it more with each listen.

   *favorite songs: “Dream Variations”, “I Almost Didn’t Notice”, “Forever New”

 

The-Cranberries-In-the-EndThe Cranberries – In the End

A short hop West across the Irish Sea brings us to the home of The Cranberries.  This mention is kind of like a career achievement mention, as the band decided not to continue after frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan died in January 2018.  This is their final album, released this year. The vocals come from demos instead of normal studio takes, but if I hadn’t read that online, I wouldn’t have known.  Some of the music would easily fit in among the songs on their first two albums. I feel like most folks probably don’t know this band beyond their hit singles, and that’s too bad, there is some songwriting brilliance in their career, and this is a satisfying final statement.

   *favorite songs:  “Lost”, “Wake Me When It’s Over”, “Illusion”, “In the End”

 

Charly-Bliss-Young-Enough-1557243931-640x640Charly Bliss – Young Enough

Back much farther West across the Atlantic, Brooklyn’s Charly Bliss dropped their second full-length album this year.  Full disclosure, I really wanted to like this album because I have met the members of this band, and they were pleasant and engaging young folks.. I like them as people.  (They also put on a very energetic live show.) My first couple of listens to this album, well, I wasn’t enthused… lots of synth, some drum machine sounds, the guitars and rock had taken a back seat to sugary pop.  Then I paid attention to the lyrics, listened closer to the songwriting, and focused on the harmonic choices. These songs are painfully confessional and personal, and I wonder how Eva manages to sing them on tour night after night without bursting into tears.  Further, this band’s gift for arrangement and hooks persists behind the pop sheen… and these songs sound excellent live, right alongside their older guitar-heavy work. Go get this album.

   *favorite songs: “Capacity”, “Camera”, “Young Enough”, “Chatroom”

 

61470138_554840258255776_5954152654669086720_oJohn Dubuc’s Guilty Pleasures – Where Have I Been All Your Life?

Don’t let John Dubuc’s “aw shucks”, self-effacing demeanor fool you.  He is one of the best songwriters in Dayton. His lyrics oscillate between witty and silly, pointless and profound. He doesn’t feel the need to be constrained by the idea of genre, as there are sounds borrowed from reggae and country and fifties rock and power pop and folk.  Several songs from this album will absolutely get stuck in your head.  

   *favorite songs: “It Ain’t That Far”, “Crazy Days”, “By the Ocean”, “Peace Love and Hamburger Helper”

 

a2717136637_10Me & Mountains – Dream Sequence Volume One

This a very brief EP, so I feel like my comments here have to also be very brief.  I love everything this band does, their sound is right up my alley, and I want them to give me more music ASAP.

  *favorite song: “Demolish Me”

 

a0393637519_10Amber Hargett – Paper Trail

Amber is lovely and genuine and sweet, comes armed with a powerful voice and a knack for songwriting, and once told a story that will ensure I never look at a submarine hatch the same way again.  Oh, and her album is great.

   *favorite songs: “Broke”, “Carolina Blue”, “Stay”

 

0009715440_10Mike Bankhead is a writer and deeply thoughtful musician. Mike does not just create songs he curates sound. His latest record is Defacing the Moon, a split album with The Paint Splats, available now. Mike’s latest song is an impressively powerful narrative that he calls “Little Light” that was released this past May and is available on all digital platforms. He is on twitter at    @mbankheadmusic and Instagram at mikebankheadmusic.

His website is https://mikebankheadmusic.com/ We suggest you check it out! 

Best of 2019: Jeremy Siegrist’s Picks and Thoughts

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Hindsight is always 2020

GEA - C21ILLC Final-8Well, here we are, the end of another year is upon us. If you’re like I am, you are fighting to break out of your self-imposed  echo chamber which you have ensconced yourself in and (possibly) you are thoroughly convinced life as you know it is falling apart. Yes, 2019 has been one of “those” years. As we all watch the worlds political systems, economies and climates stretch and strain under the forces that be, it is easy to fall into a state of hopelessness and despair.  For a great many of us, however, the thing that keeps us upright and a productive part of society is an unnatural reliance upon popular music, rock n roll in particular,  and the almost mystical way it seems to be able to make life bearable. Almost like a gigantic connective web covering the world, for those of us who are tuned in, music is the prime mover, the voice of generations, the highest form of expression and ultimately, the reason behind it all. Like legendary Who guitarist Pete Townsend said, “… the elegance of pop music [is] that it [is] reflective: we were holding up a mirror to our audience and reflecting them philosophically and spiritually, rather than just reflecting society or something called ‘rock n roll.’”  Indeed, this is the way it was then when The Who was at the forefront of new music and the way it still is now.

Fortunately for almost everyone,  I am not prone to writing long pieces extemporaneously, but initially and for reasons unknown, I was asked by my friend Art Jipson, (a Dayton Ohio music legend in his own right), to write a small piece on what I have been listening to this past year and write a couple of review lines about each of the artists. Not being someone who routinely turns legends down, I agreed to the project and found that in attempting to put the piece together I was  forced into deep water asking myself why was it exactly I was listening to what I was listening to. Why was I drawn to things I was drawn to and what did they truly mean to me? The truth is, I’m not sure I came up with any solid answers and I definitely did no music reviewing in the process of writing this article, but here are some things I think are worth mentioning.

2019, for all intents and purposes, was a year of great  turmoil in the United States. Social GEA - C21ILLC Final-113upheaval and political division was at an all time high and I have found that with only a few notable exceptions, artists from previous eras have become suddenly and starkly relevant again in a way that has never happened for many of us before. For instance, 2019 saw the release of the album Colorado by Neil Young, which is objectively an amazing piece of artistry and social commentary. Take into evidence the song “Shut It Down” where the venerable Mr. Young sings:

“All around the planet There’s a blindness that just can’t see Have to shut the whole system down They’re all wearing climate change  As cool as they can be”

I was, and am, immediately drawn to this album for reasons other than just being a decidedly die hard and zealous Neil Young fan. There are things afoot which we haven’t dealt with in many years and they are starting to show in the edges of the musical spectrum of rock-n-roll.

The Drive By Truckers, the die hard stalwart hardest working rock band in the business, this year released a single and a teaser for they upcoming album with the titles being respectively, Perilous Night and Armageddon’s Back In Town. My friends, there are things moving, whether you want them to or not, which we have not seen in many years. In Perilous Night, Patterson Hood sings:

“Dumb, white and angry with their cup half filled

Running over people down in Charlottesville

White House Fury, it’s the killing side, he defends

Defend the up-ender, yes he played that tune

it ain’t the ending but it’s coming soon

 

We’re making love beneath a sputnik moon again

White House is glowing from the Red Square light

The gates at the border being slammed down tight

We’re moving into the perilous night, my friend” 

These are heady and potentially dangerous times, and Rock N Roll, maybe even all of pop music, is standing in the gap ice again ready to take up the cause. Yes, there were many albums released this year and singles which have absolutely nothing to do with the general climate in the world, for instance (and I am showing my age here) Juliana Hatfield, and Swervedriver both released albums this past year. However, I find myself continually drawn back to music which is speaking to our times, even when those times are from years which have seemingly passed out of relevance.

Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Drive By Truckers are all in my rotation on a constant basis now because they are in the process of capturing a point in time for me. I need to post a disclaimer for everyone who has made it this far in the article. I am not living some sort of 60’s battle reenactment; (This is a line from a Frank Turner song, if you don’t know him you should look him up). I am suddenly and very acutely aware at this point in history we, in this country, and on this planet, are watching huge tectonic plates grinding and moving against one another in a way that has not been seen in many many moons. Put your antenna up friends, the truth is out there and it’s starting to be sung about out on the fringes.

Ultimately, however, and when I finally pull my mind away from the morass of the public spectacle in front of us, I gravitate back towards the people and places I love and am familiar with. For instance, local bands Like Seth Canan and The Carriers, The Boxcar Suite and the 1984 Draft.  Artists like Charlie Jackson and Amber Hartgett, and really everything Patrick Himes touches, are always somewhere in my headspace leaving sonic trails through the synapses. I miss Tom Petty more and more every day and wish I could let it all go again but did you hear? Rage Against the Machine is coming back for one more go. Coincidence? I suspect as we roll into the next year we will see an even greater resurgence of politically and socially charged music and lyrics and I for one think it is long overdue. In this case, hindsight is truly 2020.

JeremyJeremy Siegrist describes himself as “a no one, from no where, in a small band in Ohio called The Typical Johnsons, who are making as much noise is as humanly possible from his low low vantage point.”  https://twitter.com/TypicalJohnsons @TypicalJohnsons Typical Johnsons Fan Club & Website Their latest song ‘Wreckage’ is available on all platforms. We recommend checking out The Typical Johnsons’ page on bandcamp!