This cold started as a scratchy throat, which gave way to an eye twitch. Then, I sneezed and the sore throat disappeared. Now my chest hurt. I began coughing. I coughed for 5 seconds, stopped for 5 seconds, coughed for 5 seconds, and so on, all of Saturday night. I did not sleep. I only coughed. Then, on Sunday morning I began sneezing, and I sneezed for approximately 8 consecutive hours. I pulled my back out. The sneezing stopped long enough to sit in a hot bath, which made my body temperature go up to 101.5, which gave me a headache, so I spent the next 4 hours with a cold rag on my head. I had a pint of NyQuil and a shot of whisky and fell into a hallucinogenic sleep, where I saw unicorns, giant rats, Andrew Ridgeley, Valerie Perrine, lots of pizzas and a guy named Phil Turnbull. I woke up this morning, feeling like I might be over it, made a pot of coffee, took a hot shower, and started sneezing repeatedly. I can't see too well and I am starting to resemble Red Skelton. I am not a good patient.
That said, I will have my favorite records of 2018 written up and posted, as soon as I feel up to it. In the meantime, please use this time and space to tell us your favorite records of 2018.
I would love to say the new Jason Falkner album but that not being the case, I'll mention two others that have his footprints all over them:
ReplyDeleteBird Streets
Bent Van Looy - Yours Truly
Also, the Todd-like Astral Drive and I'm really enjoying the new Marianne Faithfull - Negative Capability.
Randy
I haven't been knocked out by anything this year (a lot of my favorites are coasting on 2016-2017 releases), but these are the ones I've returned to:
ReplyDeleteJayhawks - Back Roads and Abandoned Motels (not as good as Paging Mr. Proust, tho)
Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra
Christina Rosenvinge - Un Hombre Rubio
Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile
Jon Spencer - Sings the Hits
Soft Machine - Hidden Details
New 2018 Favorites:
ReplyDeleteChills - Snow Bound
Tony Molina - Kill The Lights
Grip Weeds - Trip Around the Sun
Rediscovered
Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
Charlie Mingus - Let My Children Hear Music
X - Under the Big Black Sun
2018 Favorite Song -
Tony Molina - "Nothing I Can Say"
Top albums of 2018:
ReplyDelete1) Michael McDermott - Out From Under. Another stellar release from Michael, he's really on a roll. And he has a new one coming in Feb 2019!!
1a) The Jayhawks - Back Roads and Abandoned Motels. Met the Jayhawks at a meet & greet before their Chicago show and they were so laid back and cool. This album is my favorite since the Olson years.
2) Wilkerson (S/T). Thanks to Sal and Don for the tip on this one. A damn near perfect pop album.
3) Tom Petty - American Treasure. So glad to hear the unreleased tunes. Hope they have even more where that came from.
4) Jon Cleary - Dyna-mite. New Orleans funk, funk, and mo' funk. Worth the wait!
5) Will Hoge - My American Dream. Angry, funny, rockin from a terrific songwriter. Great soundtrack for our political times.
6) John Prine - Tree of Forgiveness. This album makes me unspeakably happy at times. Love the closer "When I Get to Heaven".
7) Paul McCartney - Egypt Station. Discussed here before, but this was a really good album from one of the very best. I played this one quite a lot this year.
8) Neville Jacobs. A bit of hit & miss, but when Ivan Neville hits it, it's damn good.
9) Boz Scaggs - Out of the Blue. I prefer the other two in his recent trilogy, but there is still terrific stuff in here.
10) Jimmy Lafave - Peace Town. Posthumous release from an underrated musician who left us too soon. Warm and loving, I still get goosebumps listening to the opening cover of "Let My Love Open the Door".
I’m sure I’m missing something here. Somebody else will no doubt hit upon it. I do still need to spend time with Elvis Costello, Roseanne Cash, Eric Lindell, Marcus King Band, Amanda Shires, and a couple more.
Just listened to Astral Drive on Spotify. That is a great Rundgren vibe. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHere are the artists that released some of my favorite music of 2018.
ReplyDeleteMagpie Salute
Jayhawks
Howlin Rain
Elvis Costello
Miles Hunt
Marcus King Band
Isreal Nash
Bettye Lavette
China Crisis
Johnny Marr
Simple Minds
Nathaniel Rateliff
A few that I liked:
ReplyDeleteNik Bartsch's Ronin- Awase
Pineapple Thief- Dissolution
Richard Thompson- 13 Rivers
John Hiatt- The Eclipse Sessions
Father John Misty- God's Favorite Customer
My two favorites are Lake Street Dive's FREE YOURSELF UP and The Jayhawks - BACKROADS & ABANDONED HOTELS. - Stinky
ReplyDeleteP.S. Feel better soon!
My top albums for 2018 (and I'm not listing any reissues -- because there were a ton of great ones like the Kate Bush boxes, the reissue of Bash & Pop's "Friday Night Is Killing Me", the Appetite box and more that I haven't even heard yet like the Posies sets -- and I completely missed there was a new Grip Weeds album out this year...and John Borack's second edition of "Power Pop 200" has discovered some great stuff that was new to me...)
ReplyDeleteBut, in no particular order (but the first four were from the first half of 2018, the last four from the second half...)
David Myhr — Lucky Day. This is may be my overall favorite album of the year. Everything about it is great. Find the version with the 4 bonus tracks!
Kim Wilde — Here Comes The Aliens. Yes, “Kids In America” Kim Wilde. Best “pop” album I’ve heard in a while!
Lisa Mychols — Sugar. Her last album was on my best of, so it's no surprise this one is, too. She should be huge. HUGE!
Kacey Musgraves — Golden Hour. This surprised me as I didn’t like anything else by her. It’s not pop, it’s not country, but it’s definitely got a vibe that worked for me a whole lot. I love "Slow Burn". The third most replayed album on my list. It won the CMA's album of the year and I think rightly so.
Elvis Costello -- Look Now. I've said before how much this brought me back to the fold -- it's great.
Bird Streets -- Bird Streets -- mentioned above. The Danny Wilkerson album was good, but this was a lot better.
Mean Girls -- Original Broadway Cast. I didn't think I'd like it -- considering how unimpressed I was by the songs showcased on the Tony's, so this was a great surprise. Of this entire list, it's the one album I've listened to the most. Comedy is sometimes hard to listen to over and over, but a large number of these songs are easily replayable: "Sexy", "Apex Predator", "World Burn". "Revenge Party" is the bomb.
Rob Bonfiglio -- Trouble Again. This album kicks off with my song of the year: "Passenger Seat". No other single song leapt out of my speakers as much as this one did.
Solid honorable mentions:
Sloan -- 12
Even -- Satin Returns (a welcome return after 7 years)
Ginger Wildheart -- Ghost In the Tanglewood
Amy Rigby -- The Old Guys
And one of the more fun albums of the year: "Dr. Demento Covered In Punk". The Brak version of "Institutionalized" was my second-most spun track of all of 2018.
One clear favorite for the year: Robbie Fulks and Linda Gail Lewis's "Wild, Wild, Wild" Just a joy, top to bottom. (Even the cover art!)
ReplyDeleteOther albums I know I'll be going back to repeatedly (in no order):
John Prine — Tree of Forgiveness
Birds of Chicago — Love in Wartime
Kacey Musgraves — Golden Hour
Pistol Annies — Interstate Gospel
Alejandro Escovedo — The Crossing
Amy Helm — This Too Shall Light
And two disappointments come to mind:
When I read about what Paul Simon was working on ("In the Blue Light") I was expecting something great. When I heard it, I thought it was a snooze...
And I had very high hopes for "She Remembers Everything" by Rosanne Cash, the first album in 5 years from one my all-time favorites. And I think it's a good, even very good, solid record all the way through—but maybe my expectations were too high. I guess I anticipated better than a B+...
Albums
ReplyDelete------------
Mike Viola - The American Egypt
The Lemon Twigs - Go To School
The James Hunter Six - Whatever It Takes
Elvis Costello & The Impostors - Look Now
Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch
Paul McCartney - Egypt Station
Shannon Shaw - Shannon in Nashville
The John Sally Ride - Nothing Doing
EPs
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Andy Partridge - Apples and Oranges EP
Nick Lowe - Tokyo Bay EP
TC & I - Great Aspirations EP
Picked Cherries
----------------------
Fun Fair - The Last Detail
Rufus Wainwright - Sword of Damocles
Mike Viola - Here We Go, It’s Christmas Time
Theodosia Reprise - Sara Barreiles
Yuno - No Going Back
I Left My Body - They May Be Giants
Troye Sivan - The Good Side
No Excuses - Meaghan Trainor
Thunderclouds - LSD
Low - Lenny Kravitz
Over My Head - EchoSmith
Hi Sal, hope you feel better soon. Fav album this year was Mike Viola’s “The American Egypt”. Looking forward to your selections and Thanks to others who have already shared.
ReplyDeleteKacey Musgraves- The Golden Hour- this one was by far my most played. I adore this album
ReplyDeleteJohn Prine- Tree of Forgiveness
Rosanne Cash- She Remembers Everything
Elvis Costello- Look Now- love this album
Janelle Monae- Dirty Computer- the spirit of Prince is still alive. GREAT live act, too
Father John Misty- God's Favorite Customer- a little bit of Randy Newman in this guy
Pistol Annies- Interstate Gospel
Alejando Escovedo- The Crossing
Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy
Paul McCartney- Egypt Station- what a joy to have this album
right now I am really digging Shatner Claus.
ReplyDeleteLive long and prosper
Chaz
Here are my faves, I hope you’re better very soon.
ReplyDeleteAaron Lee Tasjan - Karma for Cheap
Barrence Whitfield & The Savages - Soul Flowers of Titan
Bettye LaVette - Things Have Changed
Bottle Rockets - Bit Logic
Colter Wall - Songs of the Plains
JD McPherson - Socks …all original Xmas songs!
Jesse Dayton - The Outsider …probably my favorite of the year
John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness
Low Cut Connie - Dirty Pictures (Part 2)
Neko Case - Hell-On
Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis - Wild! Wild! Wild! …probably tied for favorite
Ruby Boots - Don't Talk About It
Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles - Love’s Middle Name
Sarah Shook & the Disarmers - Years
The Lemon Twigs - Go To School
Van Morrison & Joey DeFrancesco - You're Driving Me Crazy
Wilko Johnson - Blow Your Mind
William Elliott Whitmore - Kilonova
Best song title - Supersuckers - (I'm Gonna Choke Myself and Masterbate) 'Til I Die
Best album cover - Melody Gardot - Live In Europe …Yowsa!!
Missed two-
ReplyDeleteRy Cooder - The Prodigal Son
Greyhounds - Cheyenne Valley Drive