Liam Sullivan's Ideas and Reflections
One final mixtape for 2018, and it’s quite the mix of songs! What are you’re favorite songs the year? I’m working on my year end list and will post it here on December 29th!
Forma Antiqva :: Canarios
Art d’Ecco :: Nobody’s Home
Bee Bee Sea :: Sonic Boomerang
Wafia :: I’m Good
Larkin Poe :: Bleach Blonde Bottle Blues
Previous Mixtapes:
Three short albums with three short reviews.
Album: A Simple Reflection
Artist: Cold Beat
Release Date: 24 August 2018
Favorite Tracks:
Thoughts: Ethereal vocals over synthpop beats transport the listener back to the 80s. Yes, these are all Eurythmics’ covers.
Rating: ***1/2
Album: boygenius
Artist: boygenius
Release Date: October 26, 2018
Favorite Tracks:
Thoughts: Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus formed a super group but only recorded 6 songs. Strong harmonies and rich instrumentation make one wish for more.
Rating: ***1/2
Album: Collapse
Artist: Aphex Twin
Release Date: September 14, 2018
Favorite Tracks: All of them.
Thoughts: Richard D. James mixes blips, whirrs, and beats into an ineffable whole. I really like it and can’t explain why.
Rating: ****
Album: Love is Magic
Artist: John Grant
Release Date: October 12, 2018
Favorite Tracks: “Love is Magic,” “Tempest,” “Diet Gum,” and “Is He Strange?
Thoughts:
American expatriate John Grant resides now in Iceland where he makes very weird music. The synths and disco beats make the album feel straight from the early 80s complete with spoken word segments reminiscent of Laurie Anderson. The lyrics are crude, angry, deeply personal, and sometimes just plain bizarre. It took me a few listens to warm up to Love is Magic, but it still doesn’t feel as good as Grant’s earlier work.
Rating: ***
Some new albums that don’t exactly contain new content, so I’m reviewing them in bulk.
Album: MassEducation
Artist: St. Vincent
Release Date: October 12, 2018
Favorite Tracks: “Slow Disco,” “Los Ageless,”
Thoughts: A release of Masseduction with everything stripped away except Annie Clarke’s voice and a piano, making her sound more like a chanteuse. I think I like this version better, although I didn’t really like the original much at all.
Rating: ***
Album: My Way
Artist: Willie Nelson
Release Date: September 14, 2018
Favorite Tracks: “Summer Wind,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “One for My Baby (And One More For the Road,” “What is This Thing Called Love?,” and “My Way”
Thoughts: Willie Nelson sings swinging standards in the style of Frank Sinatra. What’s not to like?
Rating: ***
Album: Piano and a Microphone 1983
Artist: Prince
Release Date: September 21, 2018
Favorite Tracks: “17 Days,” “Cold Coffee & Cocaine,” and “Why the Butterflies”
Thoughts: The first posthumous release from Prince’s music vaults is a glimpse of an artist at work. Just Prince tooling around on a piano, working on several songs, and being amazingly talented.
Rating: ***1/2
Got a backlog of albums from recent months, so here’s a collection of quick reviews.
Album: re:member
Artist: Ólafur Arnalds
Release Date: 24 August 2018
Favorite Tracks: “re:member,” “undir,” and “ekki hugsa”
Thoughts: Piano-based ambient music, reminiscent of Sigur Ros. Very soothing.
Rating: ****
Album: Marauder
Artist: Interpol
Release Date: 24 August 2018
Favorite Tracks: “If You Really Love Nothing” and “The Rover”
Thoughts: I’ve liked Interpol’s previous recordings, and this is an acceptable addition to their oeuvre. But it feels a bit redundant and uninspired
Rating: ***
Album: Negro Swan
Artist: Blood Orange
Release Date: August 24, 2018
Favorite Tracks: “Charcoal Baby,” “Holy Will,” “Daenham Dream,” and “Out of Your League”
Thoughts: Dev Hynes fourth album recording as Blood Orange is smooooooooooth. The music is chill, but the lyrics examine depression and anxiety through an intersectional lens of political consciousness.
Rating: ***
Album: The Now Now
Artist: Gorillaz
Release Date: June 29, 2018
Favorite Tracks: “Humility (feat. George Benson),” “Hollywood,”
Thoughts: Damon Albarn’s second band – a “virtual band” at that – is now a veteran band of 20 years. It features a stripped-down sound with fewer guest artists and I think it benefits from that even as it falls a bit short of Gorillaz best work.
Rating: ***1/2
Album: Be the Cowboy
Artist: Mitski
Release Date: 17 August 2018
Favorite Tracks: “A Geyser,” “A Pearl,” “Me and My Husband,” “Nobody,” “Washing Machine Heart,” and “Two Slow Dancers.”
Thoughts: Something of a concept album from the point of view of a married woman expressing her angst and ennui underneath a cheerful veneer. I love Mitski’s dynamic vocals and her guitar-playing style. She’s versatile musically too, transitioning through country, disco, and electro-pop without breaking a sweat. Lyrically she has a power with words to express introspection and vulnerability, even if it’s coming from the point of view of a character.
Rating: ***1/2
Album: Nightstand
Artist: Tancred
Release Date: June 1, 2018
Favorite Tracks:
Thoughts:
This album from Tancred, the stage name for a project of Maine’s own Jess Abbott, is a collection of 90s style power pop, somewhere in-between Letters to Cleo and The Breeders. The lyrics are confessional and intimate. Abbott alternates rockers with quieter, acoustic tunes. I prefer the former, but really there’s something for everyone here.
Rating: ***
Album: Hell-On
Artist: Neko Case
Release Date: June 1, 2018
Favorite Tracks:
Thoughts:
Looking through my archive I’m surprised that I’ve never reviewed a Neko Case album before as she is one of the great voices of our times, whether on her own or with the New Pornographers and side projects like case/lang/veirs. Turns out this is Case’s first solo album in five years, and I haven’t been reviewing albums that long. Hell-On offers what you expect from Neko Case – strong singing, heartfelt and poetic lyrics, and dynamic music that surprises and pleases. This album also has a lot of guest artists including Beth Ditto, k.d. lang, AC Newman, Kelly Hogan, Doug Gillard, Laura Veirs, Joey Burns, Mark Lanegan, and Eric Bachmann (the last two each share vocals with Case on a pair of stunning duets). This isn’t Case’s best album (it’s a few notches below Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and Middle Cyclone) but a merely good Neko Case album is still a wonder to behold.
Rating: ***1/2
Related Posts:
Album: Wide Awake!
Artist: Parquet Courts
Release Date: May 18, 2018
Favorite Tracks:
Thoughts: The Parquet Courts are an indie rock band from New York City by way of Texas. Produced by Danger Mouse, the music has a lot of elements of classic punk rock mixed with funk, psychedelia, Everley Brothers-style harmonies, dub reggae, and pub sing-a-longs. This approach could be generic but the Parquet Courts manage to make a joyful sound that’s even danceable. Despite the amalgam of retro sounds, the lyrics of this album are “woke” (ast the title implies) focusing on current issues, albeit not through specific references but via moods that are rooted in our times.
Rating: ****
Album: Kiss Yr Frenemies
Artist: Illuminati Hotties
Release Date: May 11, 2018
Favorite Tracks:
Thoughts:
The Los Angeles-based band lead by Sarah Tudzin plays bubblegum rock songs with an edge, a style they call tenderpunk. Over the catchy melodies are lyrics with wit and whimsy of the woes of the twentysomething. My favorite track, the cheerful power pop of “Paying off Happiness” is about being in constant debt. As the young people say these days, it’s relatable.
Rating: ***
