The Best of 2021

After one of the most amazing years in music in recent memory, 2021 was surely a let down.  Even those who had previously brought me to my knees in submission were subdued and underwhelming.  Perhaps two years of this shit known as Covid-19 had really taken its toll.  How long could you remain creative when you were stuck in a box?

And yet a few albums managed to rise above the mediocrity.  Some were surprises, others expected.  And once again, most men had little to offer, as least from my point of view.  But why waste time, let’s get to it.

The best albums of 2021 in order are: 

Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram, and Jon Randall – “The Marfa Tapes” – this is lo-fi that Guided By Voices would be envious of. Three great friends, who happen to be amongst the best song writers on the planet, sitting around a campfire playing and singing songs.  You’ll hear crickets, sirens, airplanes over head, the players breaking up laughing, forgetting lyrics, but mostly you’ll hear the purest ode to songwriting put to record in years.  Listening to this album feels like you’re sitting in on a private moment, and you hold your breath at every strum.  It is a masterpiece from start to finish and writing about it brings tears to my eyes.  Music in its purest form.  It doesn’t get any better than this.

Morgan Wade – “Reckless” – That voice!  Seriously WTF.  It’s as if God were feeling bad for me, and she said I’m going to introduce you to the voice of your dreams.  Ilona knows me well.  (Read The Second Greatest Story Ever Told and you’ll understand.)  This is one of those perfect records that came out of nowhere, and hooked my from her first line and never let go.  A damn near perfect ode to lust, longing, and booze, and really what else is worth singing about?  Morgan recently signed to a major label, listen now so you can say you knew her when.  After one song, she will own your soul.

Lana Del Rey – “Blue Banisters” – While Lana might never make an album better than “Norman Fucking Rockwell” (but then how many musicians have created a masterpiece of that magnitude?), her second album released in 2021 has certainly taken her already dark sensibilities to new depths.  From songs about daddy issues to drug dealers to Covid-19, Lana has given us a groove of fucked-up lyricism, depression, and slap-in-the-face sexual desire.  “Blue Banisters” is a “Bolero” for this generation. (Look up what the song is best used for.)  She knows how to get under out skin, and the minute she does we don’t want her to leave.  Love this woman!

Torres – “Thirstier” – Right now no one makes me happier playing live than Torres.  There is such an adorable geek joy in her performances.  Her show at the Fairfield Theatre Company in August was my first live concert since the Archers of Loaf in Nashville in March 2020.  (It was also the first show of her tour.).  And it might have been the perfect welcome home for live music, for both Torres and her fans.  This album, her fifth, is a love song to her longtime girlfriend, and to life, with an ode to her father as well.  As on all of her records, it’s noise pop in its finest form.  You never really know when the explosions of sound will come, but as on the aforementioned Archers’ records, you know its coming.  Thank you, Torres, for helping me remember what Covid took away for way too long.  

Lorde – “Solar Power” – an article was posted recently where Lorde mentioned that her first album was created under a haze of alcohol, her second while on Ecstasy, and her third, “Solar Power,” while on weed.  Completely explains why I so disliked the second, while loving the first and third.  This is the musical version of getting stoned with friends.  Talk about a vibe.  It’s a put on and dance around your house sort of album, and I pretty much love it from start to finish.  I remember seeing Lorde live at a festival in 2014 where I went to see one of The Replacements reunion shows.  I ended up enjoying her performance, with that wild unchoreographed dancing, more than theirs.  And you know what I think of the Mats.  

Lucy Dacus – “Home Video” – Dacus was the second to last concert I saw in March 2020.  She stole my heart that night at the Ryman, and stole it again with this wonderful new record.  From the opener “Hot & Heavy” to the epic closer “Triple Dog Dare,” she takes us back in time, like a John Hughes comedy in pop/punk audio form.  She’s such a smart and funny lyricist, telling us stories we can all relate to, whether we want to admit it or not.  A beautiful record.

Courtney Barnett – “Things Take Time, Take Time” – There is a wonderful sense of solitude to Barnett’s short but breathtaking new record.  A Covid record, for certain, she nonetheless keeps it optimistic.  It’s got to be over eventually, right.  So let’s write a list of things to look forward to.

Snail Mail – “Valentine” – A record of heartbreak and seemingly more heartbreak, and the ability to fall in love and lose that love in no time at all.  Another Covid generation record, as dark as Barnett’s is positive, but with Lindsey Jordan’s searing vocals, I’d pretty much let her lead me anywhere.

Most Disappointing Album of 2021:

Billie Eilish – “Happier Than Ever” – this is not a bad record, but after her thrilling and near-genius debut, it is a disappointing one.  The title song is a masterpiece, and a few others work.  But mostly is feels unfinished, like song ideas that needed an editor.  She is still one of the most exciting new artists of this generation.  I look forward to what comes next.

Best Single of 2021:

Phoebe Bridgers – “That Funny Feeling” – Bridgers took a good Bo Burnham song about the end of the world and turned it into a seven minute miracle.  It will make you cry and smile at the same time, as you realize we’re doomed, but at least we can listen to Phoebe while we self-destruct.  Saw Phoebe in Boston in September.  Her’s was one of those concerts where you wanted to cry with joy, where you needed to dance, where the world for 90 or so minutes, seemed normal again.  I love her for that respite.   

Musical Discovery of 2021:

Miranda Lambert – after hearing “The Marfa Tapes” I needed to go back.  What else had this woman done.  Everything pointed to her nasty divorce inspired double-album “The Weight of These Wings,” and from the opening track I was hooked.  This was the pop country equivalent of “Exile on Main Street,” a near perfect collection of anger, heatrbreak and drunken mistakes.  Miranda, where had you been all my life?  I went down the rabbit hole, even scouring up a copy of her very rare debut on eBay.  And while I don’t love everything (hell, I don’t love everything from ANY band), I love more than enough to move her onto a list of artists I will follow forever.  I even love her duet with Elle King, “Drunk (And I Don’t Want To Go Home).”  And her newest single is the theme for the new season of “Queer Eye” – from a mainstream country artist!  And she runs MuttNation.  Do I have a crush.? Hell, yeah.

I leave you with an oldie, the title track from her 2005 album “Kerosene.”

Best Documentary: 

“Storkman” – from director Tomislav Jenincic – as heartwarming as it gets, Storkman tells the tale of a widower who takes a wounded stork under his wings, caring for the bird for decades.  It’s a love story, a story of humanity and kindness.  You will cry, but you will also walk away feeling that perhaps there is hope for the world.

Best Narrative Feature: 

“Shiva Baby” – from director Emma Seligman – Rachel Sennott is a star to be reconned with in this truly uncomfortable dark comedy about a young women meeting her ex-girlfriend, sugar daddy, and his wife, at a shiva.  A perfect 77 minutes long (during a year when most directors have forgotten how to freakin’ edit), this film brings awkwardness to new extremes.  It is a perfect movie.  And nothing else even came close this year.

Best TV:

“Ted Lasso” – hype is rarely real. This time it is.  Jason Sudeikis and his co-stars deliver the feel-good comedy we ALL need.  Whether we need to be a goldfish, or just believe, it matters not.  We need Ted Lasso.  We need our leaders, all of our leaders, to be Ted Lasso.  And most importantly, we need to all agree that tea, as a drink, sucks. Just disgusting dirty water.  

As for the rest of my 2021:

Despite the ups and downs of Covid, myself, along with Katherine, Tony, Sophia, Doug, Sydni, Stephy and a number of amazing volunteers were able to pull off the 8^th edition of NHdocs: the New Haven Documentary Film Festival in August.  Of course, a new mask mandate going into effect the day before everything started did not help. 

“Where are you, Jay Bennett?” – my 6^th rock doc finally had its world premiere.  There will be a pay-per-view screening on January 8^th, then the wide commercial release in April, with one amazing surprise I can’t talk about yet!

“The Matchbox Man,” my look at the amazing Matchbox car collection of Charlie Mack, likewise had its world premiere, and will be out on DVD with a boatload of extras in late January. 

Me, co-producer Sophia, editor Sydni, and shooter Stephy spent a bunch of time in one of my favorite cities, Nashville, working on our newest animal documentary: “Old Friends, A Dogumentary.” That film is actually on the fast track and will premiere in April 2022.  (Unless of course the world ends before that, and then it wouldn’t matter, but I am going to hold Phoebe to the 5 or so more years promised in the song.)

As for other film projects, “Factory” is moving along…slowly but.  Sort of like the progress on the building.  And we’ve taken on a new film, well into shooting it, about the failed Powder Ridge Music Festival of 1970.  It’s an amazing story.  Stay tuned for a lot more.

Kris and I cooked a lot. Watched a lot of TV.  Got to finally see live music again: Torres, Phoebe, Jeff Tweedy, SG Goodman, The Fixx (Kris loves the 80s, me not so much), Tommy Stinson, and Jesse Malin.

Our dog family, Springsteen and Dylan are both well.  Springsteen is 13 now and is still wonderfully obnoxious.  I thank Ilona for every day with him.

And that’s it.  Another damn covid year is over.  Be well, hug your dog, raise a drink to the people you love and respect, eat good pizza, drink hot coffee, laugh, rock, play it loud, believe that things will get better…eventually…and be kind to everyone you meet.  

The Best of 2020

Let’s just get it out of the way now, 2020 sucked.  Except when it came to music, TV, books and film.  As always in life, the arts kept us breathing, when certainly those in power seemed to have no interest in doing so.

So let’s get right to it.  Was there one or two records this year that stood out like the releases from Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish did in 2019?  Depends on what day you’re asking (or were all the days the same).  Depends on my mood.  At any time one of the record topped it, only to be pushed to second place the next day.  So, instead of a top ten albums in order of preference, I resent simply the ten best albums of 2020, in order of their release date.

Soccer Mommy – “Color Theory” – It was mid-January when Sophie Allison’s new record was released.  The world seemed an okay place, except for perhaps in Allison’s world.  Behind the sparkling guitars was a darkness haunting the story telling.  In ten songs she captured the pain of isolation and longing.  There isn’t a weak beat on this record.  And in a way it set up what was to come brilliantly.

Torres – “Silver Tongue” – On the last day of January came a new record from Torres, whom we had recently seen open for Superchunk on their acoustic “Foolish” tour.  I have loved Mackenzie Scott’s guitar playing since the release of her first record, many years back, and was anxiously awaiting this first album on Merge after she was rudely dropped from 4AD.  And with “Silver Tongue” she takes it to another level completely.  This is a driving record that will put you into a trance, and “Good Grief” is the guitar song of the year.  Scott’s pain is palpable throughout, the anger of her voice dueling with her six string virtuosity.  Listen to this record on vinyl at the loudest volume you can endure.  It’s the closest you’ll come to a live concert this year.  Fuck, yes!

Lucinda Williams – “Good Souls Better Angels” – Late February.  Few singer/songwriters are better than Lucinda Williams when motivated, and Lucinda was angry.  Hell, we hadn’t even gotten to Covid-19 yet.  This was all Trump.  A pissed-off calling out that harkened back to the days of “Essence” genius.  She sang what so many of us were feeling in that boozy brawl of a voice that is unlike anything else in the world.  This was the sort of album you put on as therapy.  There are other people out there as angry as I am. 

S.G. Goodman – “Old Time Feeling” – Early March, I was in Nashville for the Seniors A Dogumentary world premiere, the next night I’d be seeing Lucy Dacus on the Opry, and the night after that Archers of Loaf.  Then I’d head home, and stay there.  The vibe of this record is one of the things that helped me through.  A bluesy old-school country feel without any hokiness.  There an authenticity here, heartfelt Americana, by way of Kentucky.  You can almost feel the ghosts of Patsy Cline drinking whiskey with Karen Dalton grooving to Goodman.  Love this record.

Waxahatchee – “Saint Cloud” – Late March brough us Katie Crutchfield’s best album since her 2012 debut “American Weekend.”  An album about healing in a time when the breaking of this country’s soul was still hitting its peak, this is the record that for anyone listening at that point in time saw the light at the end of the proverbial Trump tunnel.  Hopeful but not overly optimistic, it has shades of mid-60s Dylan, and that’s about as high a compliment I can think of to give any record.  Crutchfield nails it on this one.

Phoebe Bridgers – “Punisher” – Mid-June brought us a simply perfect album, Bridger’s second, and it any single album had pushed through to top this list, this would have been it.  This is an album so vast and beautiful, so intimate, yet at times brash and poppy, Bridgers has created a record where there are no songs to skip.  And even picking the example to post here.  In my head everyone must know “Kyoto” by this point because it was simply the best pop song of the year.  “Graceland Too” makes my mind explode.  “Halloween” breaks my heart.  There’s no place to start, because there’s no place to stop.  It’s just fucking brilliant.  And for anyone whose seen her numerous “live” appearances and performances since the pandemic began, you realize, Bridgers is the performer we need right now.  She never fails to bring a smile.  And what could be better than that?  

The Chicks – “Gaslighter” – Mid-July brought us the angriest album of the year.   And while sure, Natalie Maines and company were pissed at Trump, it was her ex-husband who really set the album on fire.  After a 14 year hiatus, the band dropped the Dixie, and the hammer.  Brutally honest, to the point where Maines’ ex tried to block its release, “Gaslighter” is about buying into the lies of someone who should have your best interests at heart.  We certainly could all relate.  Their video to “March March” was also the best music video of the year. 

Taylor Swift – “Folklore”/”Evermore”/”Folklore: the Long Pond Studio Sessions” – A week later Swift took over. She did in one year what most musicians aspire to in perhaps their lifetime.  A truly stunning album, followed by a live reimagining of that album, followed by a starker equally brilliant record.  And for those of you who just view Swift as some vacuous pop princess, you’re missing out on one of the great songwriters and story tellers of our time. Put on any song from one of these three collections and be whisked away into tales of a teenage love triangle gone wrong, a mansion of broken dreams, heartbreak, desire, revenge.  And gone is the slick dance/pop production of her last few outings, replaced instead by the simplest of arrangements.  These are timeless records, put one on from start to finish and you’ll be swept away.

Lydia Loveless – “Daughter” – Late September brought the long awaited fifth album from one of my favorite singers of all time.  And while the voice and (most of) the band remains the same, its Loveless song writing abilities that truly shines here.  Lyrically as good if not better than anything she’s done, the album focuses on giving yourself a long hard look in the eye and moving on, despite the pain involved.  It’s a record that grows on your with every listen, and the one not only Loveless needed to make, but the one we needed to hear.  

Miley Cyrus – “Plastic Hearts” – I love Miley Cyrus.  No pop star is more comfortable in their skin.  She just doesn’t give a fuck what you think.  In late November she turned her career around again with the release of a record that sounds like classic mid-80s rock, in a good way.  “Plastic Hearts” is the perfect diversion for the mind-fuck that 2020 became.  It’s a release, a fall back to a time when you could put on a good rock and roll record and not think seeing a friend might lead to your demise.   

Most Disappointing Album of 2020:

Car Seat Headrest – “Making a Door Less Open” – The band was supposedly trying to make their Bowie album. They didn’t.  A disappointing mess.

Best Single of 2020:

Archers of Loaf – “Raleigh Days” – I waited 20 years for this song, and it was worth it.  Raucous and exhilarating, and clocking in at under two and a half minutes, my favorite band in the world took two decades off my life, and made me feel like I was sweating and moving in unison with hundreds of other fans at some dive bar in the East Village. The single most perfect moment of this mostly shit year.

Best Reissue (tie):

Wilco – “Summerteeth” – Arguably Wilco’s best album gets a treatment fit for a queen with this stunning reissue featuring outtakes, demos, live performances, all beautifully packaged.  Blissful in every way.

Tom Petty – “Wildflowers & All The Rest” – The solo demo versions of one of Petty’s most loved records might be his greatest record of all.  A treasure trove of song writing brilliance.

Worst Reissue:

The Replacements – “Pleased To Meet Me” – You know I love this band, but for me this was a disappointment on every level.  There was nothing here I needed to hear, not ever, not once.  A beautifully remastered version of the original album on vinyl would have been much preferred.  So bad it almost destroys the memory of one of the greatest albums ever made.

Musical Discovery of 2020:

Karen Dalton – I’m obsessed. And how she could have slipped past my radar is beyond me.  The voice reminds me of Billie Holiday, but singing Americana.  It brings me to my knees.  Listen to this sample.  You’ll either love it or not.  (P.S. A great documentary on Dalton called “In My Own Time” is coming next year.)

Best Documentary: 

“Miss Americana” – Part cinema verité, part “Fog of War,” Lana Wilson’s documentary on Taylor Swift ranks as one of the great rock docs of all time.  Beautifully edited (and docs are ALL about editing), it tells the eye-opening story of the fame at Swift’s level, and how eventually she broke from the ranks of her many handlers and started running her career, her life, on her own terms.  There are not many films that I look at and say, “I wish I made that film.”  Well, this is one of them.  

Best Narrative Feature: 

“Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always” – a filmmaking tour-de-force that had no equal this year.  From the stark 16mm cinematography, to the performances from Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder, Eliza Hittman’s portrayal of a teenage girl who travels from rural Pennsylvania to NYC so she can obtain an abortion is the sort of film which will define “independent filmmaking” for years to come.  One of the best films of this century.  The scene from which the film pulls its title will stay with you forever.

Best TV (tie):

“Normal People” – Daisy Edgar-Jones  and ‎Paul Mescal will break your heart over and over again in what was easily the most perfect series in a year of amazing TV.  This is what chemistry between actors should feel like.  So damn good.  I almost wish I had never seen it, so I can experience watching it again for the first time.

“I Am Not Okay With This” – Sophia Lillis is quickly becoming one of our greatest actresses with this wonderfully fucked up tale of a girl with some weird powers and the geeky boy who likes her.  It’s seven very short episodes.  Just watch it and thank me later.

Worst Thing I Watched All Year:

“Billie” – a completely pathetic documentary about Billie Holiday that seems more interested in her drug use, who she was sleeping with, and the woman who died before she could finish writing Holiday’s biography, than it does in Holiday’s voice.  And the use of colorization on some classic old clips makes me want to bitch-slap the director.  Everything that could be wrong about this is. The greatest singer of all time deserves much better.

As for the rest of my 2020:

Thankfully two of my films, “Pizza A Love Story” and “Seniors A Dogumentary,” were released on DVD and streaming platforms everywhere, and have garnered a lot of love from viewers.  

“Where are you, Jay Bennett?” – my 6^th rock doc is done.  We are out to film festivals, and one way or another, we will be screening by early summer, at the latest, hopefully to a live audience.

I completed my first short film in years, “The Matchbox Man,” which is also out to film festivals.  It will also premiere in very early summer.

“Factory,” our look at the crazy life behind the New Haven Clock Company building, is being edited.  Though once things are safe, we still need to film a few additional interviews. Watch for a new trailer, edited by Sydni Frisch, coming in early January.

With the help of some amazing people (Katherine, Tony, Haley, Cassandra, Karyl, Ed, Sydni, Ken, Matt) we were able to pull off a miracle with the 7^th edition of NHdocs, and actually present 16 live screenings, plus another 100 or so films online.

I did at least get to see Archers of Loaf back in March the week before the shutdown, in Nashville, a city I love.  Ate a lot of Jeni’s ice cream too!

Kris and I cooked a lot. A real lot.  Painted our deck, rearranged rooms, got rid of clutter, alphabetized CDs. Variations of what everyone else was doing.

Our dogs, Springsteen and Dylan, are both doing well. 

And that’s it.  This damn year is over.  Be well, hug your dog, raise a drink (virtually) to the people you love and respect, eat good pizza, drink hot coffee, laugh, rock, play it loud, believe that things will get better come January 20, and be kind to everyone you meet (no matter what side of the aisle they’re on).  

Oh, and wear a damn mask!

The Best of 2018

Okay, this was a weird year for me.

First off, too many of my friends made kick-ass amazing records.

And then, even as the months passed, I would find myself in a battle with myself as to what was my favorite album of 2018.  There was only one thing that never changed, my favorite song of this year.  In fact, maybe it was the year of the songs, as so many truly stood out, while sometimes the albums from whence they came fell a little short.

I don’t know.  But I am changing things up this year.  Going to start the listing with songs, and then bring on the albums, but the albums won’t have any specific order, and honestly as I write this now on December 26^that 6:15 PM, I’m not even sure how many albums will make the list.  So, I’ll be as surprised as you.

Best Song of 2018

Uh-Huh from Jade Bird – This UK singer/songwriter, who released one great EP last year, and a couple of singles this year, delivers the perfect song: short, fast, angry and so to the fucking point.  When she turns up the growl at the 31 second mark, I am a complete goner.  The song gave me goosebumps on that first listen, it gives me goosebumps now.  As good a song as any you’re likely to hear . . . ever.

Runners Up for Best Song of 2018

Make Me Feel – Janelle Monae – Though Prince passed in April of 2017, his spirit was certainly alive in protégé Monae’s funky ode to a subject so close to the Purple One’s heart. If Jade hadn’t growled, this would have been song of the year.  So close. So damn good.

 

The Way She Looks At You – Sarah Shook – Released back in November, one week after What it Takes: film en douze tableaux, the documentary I made on the band was also released, came a track from the Years sessions.  A three-four alt-country classic about realizing what you thought you had perhaps wasn’t yours after all.  Fucking beautiful.  And so authentic I can hear Patsy Cline singing it.

 

Venice Bitch/Mariners Apartment Complex – Lana Del Rey – I love Lana Del Rey.  And when she dropped these two songs earlier in the year I was immediately drawn to Mariner’s, but as the weeks passed something about the almost 10-minue long Venice Bitch started taking hold.  There’s a vibe, a seduction, a play of words, I can’t explain it, and the old punk in me is disappointed.  But fuck him.  Like I said, I love Lana Del Rey.

 

 

Plastic Hamburgers – Fantastic Negrito – THIS is how you sound like Led Zeppelin without sounding like an ass.

 

The (14, it would seem, though one’s an EP) Best Albums of 2018, in alphabetical order:

 

Bottle It In – Kurt Vile – I’ve never placed another Vile album on any best of list because I never truly loved any of his albums. There were a few good songs, but mostly I felt a lot of filler.  Not here. This is all brilliant vibe, a perfect album for long drives in the middle of the night.

 

Boygenius – Boygenius – Technically an EP, but since no one truly understand the art of the EP any more, I’ll let it hang with the long players.  Six perfect songs from a supergroup made up of three of the most talented singer/songwriters on the planet at the moment.

 

Clean – Soccer Mommy – This album honestly almost squeeked past all the rest.  Probably my most played record of the year.  Angst, guitars, most angst. It’s as if everything good about alt power pop from the 90s were still alive and well.

 

Fall Into the Sun – Swearin’ – It feels as if one or the other Crutchfield sister is on this list every year.  This year it’s Allison’s turn.  Just a great fun power punk record with crunch guitars and mostly great lyrics.

 

History of Panic – The Shellye Valauskas Experience – This was the great power pop record of the year.  A collection of songs that stick in your head, but you’re okay with that.  They’re like good friends you want to have a beer with who always make you smile.

 

I Don’t Run – Hinds – You either like this band, or they annoy the crap out of you. I actually love them, and this is their best record.  One that I might even risk playing for other people.  (Maybe.)

 

Kiss Yr Frenemies – Illuminati Hotties – A perfect noise pop record.  And that is my favorite musical subgenre.  Not a weak moment.  And those fucking guitars!

 

No Recover – Eric Bachmann – Speaking of noise pop, the leader of my all-time favorite band put out a record this year that was pretty much the complete opposite.  And though Eric insists all of these songs are about the apocalypse, this is a liltingly beautiful collection, which Bachmann breaking your heart, if not with his guitar, then with his gentle whisper of a voice.

 

Not Tonight – John Howie Jr. – Earlier this year we took the Grand Ole Opry tour, and of course I looked up and listened to a number of artist that I had never really explored, Porter Wagoner being one.  And in a nutshell he’s who I was reminded of when I first heard Howie’s album.  This is about as old time country as it gets.

And for the hell of it, and because I know most of you have never heard him, a little Porter Wagoner.  C’mon, listen and expand your horizons.

 

Something – Something Young – Long story short, over the summer one of my co-editors told me her boyfriend put out a record and I should give it a listen.  To “be nice” I of course did, never expecting this self-released record from a high school senior would become one of my most listened to albums of the year. It’s the 90s indie rock record that’s somehow missing from your collection.  Fuck, it’s good!

 

Tell Me How You Really Feel – Courtney Barnett – At the time of it’s release this would have been my most likely choice for best album of the year.  But while I still love it, I don’t feel I love it as much.  Still a great collection, but I’m not sure why it hasn’t aged well.  Perhaps it’s me.

 

Warm – Jeff Tweedy – I’m a Wilco fanatic, and this might be Tweedy’s best collection of songs since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (or at least since The Whole Love).  It’s as if Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan had a son, and Paul Westerberg was his demented uncle who took him to a lot of shows he should have never gotten into.  Love this man.

 

What a Time to be Alive – Superchunk – One of my favorite bands of all time putting out quite possibly their most punk record. While not the freakin masterpiece of their last, I Hate Music, it’s an angry, timely, ode to our fucked up times. Send a copy to the White House.

 

Years – Sarah Shook & the Disarmers – My feelings on this band are pretty damn obvious, as the are the subject of my last documentary and I directed the video below.  Love every song on this record.  It’s an alt-country masterpiece about loss and longing and holding onto the bottle for redemption.  And make sure to see them live, Shook and company will make you see God at the bottom of that empty glass.

 

The more observant of you might notice that this is where I usually list my best films of the year.  But I don’t think I’ve seen enough to give an honest opinion.  So I won’t even try to give a dishonest opinion. (Or course, those same observant folks might think I was not completely blown away by anything, yet, and of course you’d be correct.)  I’ll just skip to the next category.

 

BEST TV of 2018

There was so much, but one show stands out.  One show that makes me laugh, cry, keeps me on the edge of my seat, makes me pause it because I can’t hold back comments on how brilliant something (the fucking costume design) or someone (pick any of the cast members) is, turns me on (yes, she’s my TV crush), and makes me angry that there are only ten episodes in a season and I’ve just binge-watched them all, and now I have to wait another 11.9 months for more.  And that show is The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.  (I love you, Midge.)

 

BOOK OF THE YEAR:

Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc. by Jeff Tweedy – This is coming from someone who hates rock bios.  I DO NOT read them.  They almost always make me dislike the artist at hand, which defeats the purpose, because I was only reading the book because I was a fan.  Or they’re written by someone else who puts way too much of their own spin on the story, and I know it’s a bunch of bullshit anyway. Tweedy’s bio is different.  It’s very funny, but it’s also very sad.  So self-depricating, and honest.  It made me like him more than ever, and I didn’t think that was possible.  Read it and find a new best friend.

As for the rest of my 2018:

Tales of an impromptu music video, part one: We had a blizzard back in February.  At around 9:30 am when there was around a foot of snow on the ground, and the roads in the state were about to be officially declared off limits, I turned to my wife and said, I’m going to go out and shoot a music video.  She told me I was crazy and that she was not going to come and rescue me if I got stuck.  I have a Jeep.  Getting stuck was not an option.  So I called up Dean Falcone, whose partner in crime Shellye Valauskas had just released a beautiful new album.  I said, let’s go shoot a music video in the snow.  In the background I could hear Shellye say we were both crazy.  Dean replied, pick us up in an hour.  I said, bring cheap guitars.  And so we spent an hour in the frigid cold wind-whipped snow shooting this video.  I personally love it.  Hope you do too.  P.S. We did not get stuck, and the video was online by 3 PM that same day.

 

Tales of an impromptu music video, part two: a Thursday, later in the next month, I hear my friend Matthew Ryan is releasing an acoustic version of the album Hustle Up Starlings, for which I made the first music video which can watch here:

Now the issue was that this new acoustic record was going to be released the following Tuesday.  I immediately contacted Matt and asked him to send me the tracks. Upon hearing the acoustic version of Aviator I knew what had to be done: an acoustic version of the music video, with just singer and guitarist.  Well, the singer, Chloe, had become one of my go-to film editors after the first music video, so she immediately said yes.  And Carina, the guitarist, was just as quickly on board.  We filmed it in the same location as the original video on Sunday, and Matt had his music video, which was premiered sight-unseen by American Songwriter magazine on Tuesday.  I might love this video even more than the original.

 

As for my feature films…

 Pizza, A Love Story– in the works for eleven years is done.  We’re running a final Kickstarter now for the sound mix and E&O insurance, and then we begin the film festival run.  You can find the Kickstarter here.

Normal Valid Lives– has it’s third, maybe fourth, editor, and is moving along. Perhaps the story, or my interviews, are a little too disturbing.

Where are you, Jay Bennett?– we hit the motherlode this year.  But I don’t want to tell you how or what.  Let’s just say we found the holy grail to make this film work. It will also double post-production time, but it will be worth it.

Seniors– we’re about half-way through editing.  Just filmed a few almost final interviews.  Our happy animal film is coming along.

And we’re figuring out right now what is coming next…

NHdocs 2018 was a blast.  Difficult, exhausting, but rewarding.  And it’s coming back for it’s 6^thyear on May 30^thfor 11 days of great films.

Thank you to all of the people who collaborate with me on my films, NHdocs, and other projects: Chloe, Brianna, Dean, Shellye, Lindsay, Jay, Fred, Colin, Charlotte, Charlie, Katherine, Tony, Sam, Max, Haley, Ed, Carina, Kathie, Scott, Diane, and another Scott, plus the amazing musicians and bands, and of course my harshest critic Kristine, whom I love with every inch of my being.  And yes, my four-pawed children Springsteen and Dylan. None of this would exist without you.

Be well, hug your dog, share a drink with people you love and respect, eat good pizza, drink hot coffee, laugh, rock, play it loud, try not to let the political climate get you down, and be kind to everyone you meet (no matter what side of the aisle they’re on).

 

 

 

The Best of 2017

A very good year in music.

First off nice to see both Sarah Shook’s Sidelong (my co-album of the year last year) and Lydia Loveless’s Boy Crazy collection on many year end lists. They’re not on mine only because they’re reissues. You already know how I feel about both of these artists.

Speaking of reissues, they truly rocked this year. From the Savage Young Dü collection from Hüsker Dü to the amazing deluxe reissues of Wilco first two albums AM and Being There. As did live records. Both The Replacements’ For Sale and Lydia’s Live from the Documentary Who Is Lydia Loveless? (which, yes, I am responsible for bringing to life) are as good, if not better, than any studio album released this year. But that’s not the essence of my top ten list.

It’s about new music.

So, here now, are my ten favorite records of 2017.

The Order of Time – Valerie June – There was no album I returned to on a more frequent basis that June’s brilliant sophomore effort. This record is all about a vibe that just sinks its slightly gritty under the nails claws into you and never lets go. Part old school Americana (think the old 78s that were recorded live in the 20s), part soul, with a voice that sounds wise beyond its years. Add to that the most perfectly subdued production and a collection of songs that seem to get better with every listen, and you’ve got an instant classic. This is a record that will sound even better a decade from now.

Deep Dream – Daddy Issues – Finally a new take on the riot grrl sound. Noisy and sweet at the same time, any band that could make Don Henley’s Boys of Summer worth listening to has to be doing something right.   This is the late night, drive fast, slam your fist against the steering wheel, scream along album of the year. Fuck, yes!

Anything Could Happen – Bash N Pop – The best solo record from a member of The Replacements since Westerberg’s Stereo/Mono seventeen years ago. Tommy Stinson just knocks it out of the park with a great collection of songs. His voice has never sounded better, and that familiar guitar sound is like an old friend coming to visit carrying a bottle of good bourbon and a six pack of beer. I’m not putting this on the list because he’s a former member of the Mats, it’s here because it’s a damn good record.

Out in the Storm – Waxahatchee – I loved Waxahatachee’s first album American Weekend (it topped this list a few years back), but the next two left me bored. So I am very happy to report Katie Crutchfield is back with almost the perfect companion piece to that first record. Except this time instead of haunted lullabyes we’re treated to a full-on sonic assault of guitars, bass and drum. This is her rock album. A wall of pop melodies coated in noise syrup brilliant from start to finish. Love this record.

After the Party – The Menzingers – The closest we’re going to come to The Clash thirty-five years after they split up. I would call this my feel-good record of the year. From the opening guitars of Tellin’ Lies the album made me feel young again, and never let up.   And maybe this is new for old dudes. I don’t give a fuck. I’m an old dude. And this one rocked.

Turn Out the Lights – Julien Baker – She sings one note and my heart is broken. A whole album, and I’m reduced to tears. She is the heir apparent to Nick Drake or Elliott Smith, someone to take us into the dark spaces, and hold our hands with the confidence in her voice. Everything will be okay with Julien leading the way.

Gilded – Jade Jackson – While we all wait for new records from Loveless and Shook, dig into Jade Jackson spectacular debut. It’s a collection of heartbreak and longing with guitars a little too crunchy for country-western. The raspy catch in her voice will grab you from the first note and not let go.

Notes of Blue – Son Volt – The best alt-country record of the year. And in a year in which guitars seemed to blessedly rule again, this is a freaking guitar masterpiece.

Losing – Bully – Old school riot grrl done right: fuzz, melody, fuzz, drums, fuzz and Alicia Bognanno has a voice made for the genre. Just one of those records you put on endless repeat on a drive from Minneapolis to Fargo.

Spades and Roses – Caroline Spence – Best straight out country record of the year. Spence is an amazing songwriter, but it’s her delivery that just breaks your heart. With production just sparse enough, and yet more killer guitar riffs, she takes us through a collection of songs that sound like great southern literature. Short stories turned to song.

BEST SONG OF THE YEAR: Lydia Loveless take this for both sides of a single: Desire/Sorry. The A-side, a gut-wrenching tale of an affair with a married man gone bad, was truly my favorite track from her last LP Real, but it ended up on the recording studio floor, so to speak, though it was a centerpiece of my film Who is Lydia Loveless? The B-side is a cover of the Justin Beiber song which was easily my most played tune of the year. Lydia makes the song her own, as if every word meant something special to her and the person and/or persons she singing it to. Gave me goosebumps more times than I care to admit. I’ve said it before that she has the greatest voice on the planet. And I’ll say it again. She fucking kills me every time.

Listen to Sorry on bandcamp here.

OTHER GREAT SONGS:

Sixteen from Diet Cig – the opening verse is all you need to know: “When I was sixteen/I dated a boy/With my own name/It was weird/In the back of his truck/Moaning my name/While trying to fuck.”

(I Just Died) Like an Aviator – Matthew Ryan – the greatest song in the world can become downright annoying when you direct and edit a music video for it. There’s only so much you can hear one song. Right? Well, wrong, in this case. Despite hundreds and hundreds of listens over a two week period, the first track from Ryan’s stellar Hustle up Starlings lp stands the test of time as one of the best rock tracks of the year. (Even if I no longer picture the words coming out of Ryan’s mouth.)

BEST LIVE SHOW: Lydia Loveless, Todd May, and Casey Magic at the backroom at Cat’s Cradle on December 15^th and 16^th. She was on fire these two nights, playing solo and with Todd, rearranging, ranting, reinventing European, breaking our fucking hearts every time she opened her mouth. Goddammit, Lydia!

BEST HOLLYWOOD NARRATIVE FILM: I, Tonya – a mocumentary, that was funny at times, heartbreaking the rest. A brilliant cast, superb script, and a sharpness of vision we rarely see with any sort of budget.

BEST INDEPENDENT NARRATIVE FILM: Lady Bird – Greta Gerwig might be the Lydia Loveless of independent film: funny, awkward, damaged, opinionated, and always completely charming. And that showed through in every frame of this magnificent directing debut.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM: The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography – Errol Morris’s short, subtle masterpiece. A film that leaves you wanting more, which is rare indeed today. His portrait of a quirky photographer who was one of five people on the planet who owned a 20×24 Polaroid camera. Love, love, love!

BEST TV: TV is the new indie film. And it just keeps getting better and better. Thus just a list of a few of this year’s standouts: Stranger Things II, The Five, Master of None, Ray Donovan, The Keepers, Big Little Lies, The Deuce, and GLOW. (And I’m not even mentioning my guilty pleasure love for reality TV like Big Brother, Survivor, and Top Chef.)

BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Mary Miller’s brilliant Always Happy Hour: Stories and Jeff Goodell’s terrifying The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World. The former is a collection of writing to rival the dark despair of Carver, the latter a look at how the coastlines of the world will not be recognizable in a few decades. Both so worth reading, perhaps for the same reason.

As for the rest of my 2017:

Four releases this fall, of which I am quite proud: Who is Lydia Loveless? on DVD with a shitload of great extras, the Record Store Day vinyl-only release of 6 tunes from the film, Live from the Documentary Who is Lydia Loveless?, my first film Disconnected on bluray (with extras that include my long-lost first documentary Twenty Questions), and Psychos In Love on bluray. (The last two both brought to you from the amazingly twisted folks at Vinegar Syndrome.

As for what’s next: five documentaries in various stages of production:

What it Takes: film en douze tableaux – a quirky portrait of Sarah Shook and the Disarmers as they record their new album Years for Bloodshot Record. You can expect to see this at film festivals in late Spring.

Seniors – A documentary that celebrates the brains, energy & sass of some of the coolest senior dogs on this planet and the people who love them. It’s mostly filmed. Editing now.

Pizza, A Love Story – in the works for ten years and being edited now, we hope to finally have our epic love poem to the Holy Trinity of pizza (Sally’s, Pepe’s, and Modern) completed by mid-year.

Normal Valid Lives – our look at a horrible case of bullying in a school district north of Minneapolis. We still have a little filming to do, and hope to have this completed for film festivals in early 2019.

Where are you, Jay Bennett? – A feature-length documentary on Jay Bennett, a legendary musician, who as a member of Wilco, was a large part of the genius behind three seminal albums, who went on to a critically acclaimed solo career, before dying tragically at the age of 45. Filming and editing now.

And of course, NHdocs 2018 is coming your way on May 31^st for 11 days of great films. (might have a surprise or two from me in there!)

That’s it.  Another year in the books. Be well, hug your dog, eat good pizza, drink hot coffee, and be kind to everyone you meet.

 

 

The Best of 2014

Just as I will always remember that day in 1977 when I walked past Free Being Records on 2^nd Avenue and saw that first Elvis Costello single hanging in the store’s window. Or in 1983, the Professor at Phoenix Records handing me the “I Will Dare” 12 inch and saying “I think you might like these guys.” Or being at a CMJ show at Tramps in 1993 when a band with the worst name in the world took the stage and became the band that saved my life. I will always remember the May 7^th thread on my Facebook page where I was complaining about how another new music Tuesday came and went without anything worth listening to, and my friend Aggie Donkar wrote: “My favorite under the radar 2014 record is the new Lydia Loveless.”

I trusted Aggie’s taste, and bought the digital version of SOMEWHERE ELSE on Amazon. The opening track, REALLY WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN, started up with guitars that sounded like they belonged on PLEASE TO MEET ME, and then I heard her voice. And once again, just like that, just like in those examples stated above, my life was forever changed.

To say that Lydia Loveless took over my musical life in 2014 is a ridiculous understatement. Ask anyone who’s spent ten minutes with me. I even had friends who suggested an LL drinking game, doing a shot every time I mentioned her name or one of her songs, but then they realized they’d be drunk by 11 AM. Even when albums from old time favorites were released, I’d listen once, maybe twice, and turn right back to Lydia. And by mid-summer I was seriously thinking that this year’s top 10 album list would have spots two through ten left blank.

I eventually came to my senses. Sort of. Because there were other very good albums released this year. Some great albums. Those records are listed below.

But it was also the year of massive disappointment. Some of my favorite musicians of all time put out albums that I truly disliked (talking about you Lucinda, Ryan, Taylor, Ty, Lykke, Bob, EMA, Bruce). And bands that I had the highest hopes for released redundant piles of crap as their second album.

Of course did any of that matter when I got to see The Replacements live three times, including the home-coming show at Midway, which on a scale of one to ten, well, to paraphrase the brilliant Nigel Tufnel, “went to 11.”

So, without further blabbering, my list of the best of everything for 2014…

BEST ALBUMS:

1. SOMEWHERE ELSE – Lydia Loveless – I can think of few albums that are as perfectly in touch with everything I look for in music: great songwriting, ferocious guitar licks, a sense of humor, a sense of rock history, that record-it-live feeling, and a voice. Goddamn does she have a voice. Whether she’s belting out “Well there were times when I was not there for you at all” in the opening track, and you know she’s not being hard enough on herself, or evoking tears with those subtle hints of a vibrato in EVERYTHING’S GONE, a song about saving her family’s farm, Loveless’ voice is at the forefront here. I’ve described her to friends as the daughter Paul Westerberg and Lucinda Williams never knew they had, and even then I think I’m selling her short. This is a perfect record from the most important new artist of the last decade.

2. BURN YOUR FIRE FOR NO WITNESS – Angel Olsen – Noise and heartbreak collide in a collection of songs so stark you’ll feel uncomfortable, as if you’re peeking through someone’s bedroom window, and they know you’re there, but they keep on doing whatever it is despite you, or perhaps to spite you.

3. BOXERS – Matthew Ryan – It’s been a while since Matt Ryan has rocked. And this record comes across as if the pent up energy finally exploded and he couldn’t hold it back any longer. This is buckets of Springsteen, The Replacements, and The Clash flung against the wall, their colors streaming together to create something fresh and new and vibrant. This is the record so many other rockers tried to make this year, failing miserably.

4. HERE AND NOWHERE ELSE – Cloud Nothings – For the longest time I was not going to put this record on this list because of how much I detested their live performance. But then I realized that wasn’t fair to the record, which was a damn great indie rock record with shades of Archers and the Mats running throughout. Buy the album, skip the show (unless you’re into a bunch of kids standing around looking at themselves as if they’re in their garage practicing).

5. BENJAMIN BOOKER – Benjamin Booker – This is such a nasty rock and roll record you’ll need a shower afterwards. Dirty is the word that comes to mind when I think of both his exquisite guitar playing and vocal delivery. Just so fucking good.

6. LET’S NOT BE FRIENDS – The Girls! – Everything about this record makes me smile. This is pure punk pop bliss. Great songs, great riffs, and a sexy sense of humor. And “Sophomore” is one of the best odes to sexual frustration I’ve heard in a long while.

7. METAMODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY MUSIC – Sturgill Simpson – This is Hank Williams country. This is Johnny Cash. Basically, there’s dark, and then there’s Simpson. “Woke up today and decided to kill my ego.” Fuck, man! Not always easy to listen to, but a great record.

8. SUKIERAE – Tweedy – This record feels like a long walk through your childhood neighborhood with an old friend. You talk, you laugh, you cry a little, all the while polishing off that sixer of Bud, ‘cause it’s the only thing your granddad had in the fridge.

9. HEIGH HO – Blake Mills – Really hard to describe, so let’s say noise alt-country pop. And if that doesn’t make you want to listen I don’t know why you’re reading my list in the first place. Every song is sort of a Pandora’s Box waiting to be opened.

OTHER GREAT ALBUMS:

THE BEST DAY – Thurston Moore

RIPS – Ex Hex

FAMOUS GRAVES – Cheap Girls

ENGLISH OCEANS – Drive-By Truckers

AND THE WAR CAME – Shakey Graves

PAINT ANOTHER LAYER ON MY HEART – Caleb Caudle

WORST ALBUM OF THE YEAR:

DISGRACELAND – The Orwells – After showing such amazing punk/pop/rock potential with their first album, The Orwells returned with an unlistenable collection of songs not even worthy of a B-side. It’s the laziest record of the year. As if they went into the studio with the mindset that David Letterman loves us and we can do no wrong. Well, you did wrong, boys. This record sucks.

BEST SONG OF THE YEAR:

MILE HIGH – Lydia Loveless – I don’t know any other way to say it: THIS IS A PERFECT SONG. It’s full of confusion and longing and wit. It’s feminine/masculine, it’s breathless. And it fucking rocks. It’s on endless repeat.

OTHER GREAT SONGS:

UNFUCKTHEWORLD – Angel Olsen – an ode to when everything perfect breaks. Her whisper gives me chills.

GOD’S NOT HERE TONIGHT – Matthew Ryan – This is the perfect anthem for this broken, fucked-up year. A BASTARDS OF YOUNG minus the hope.

MESMERIZE – The Girls! – Just a freakin’ great song. Nothing more need be said.

IT AIN’T ALL FLOWERS – Sturgill Simpson – You wake up in a strange room next to someone you’ve never seen before, stumble towards the bathroom, catch your reflection is a cracked mirror, what’s all that blood!   You drop to your knees, the room is spinning, and everything would be alright if you could just remember your fucking name. That’s this song.

BEST COVER SONG:

COME PICK ME UP – Superchunk – Mac and company take the classic Ryan Adams heartbreaker and rock it the fuck out. They make it theirs. And that’s saying a lot when the original is one of the great songs of all time.

BEST BOX SET/REISSUE/RECORD THAT DOESN’T FALL INTO ONE OF THE CATEGORIES ABOVE:

ALPHA MIKE FOXTROT: RARE TRACKS 1994-2014 – Wilco – A collection that makes you realize the scope and talent of this band. Beautifully packaged, with 77 tracks of outtakes and demos and live recordings. It’s like the Tweedy album, except this time your friend is telling you all these great secrets which make you grin from ear to ear.

BEST LIVE SHOW:

The Replacements – Midway Stadium , St. Paul, MN – What separated this show from the other 4 Mats concerts I’ve seen since the reunion was the emotion. It was a homecoming of rock and roll soldiers we all thought were long lost as war. They raised their guitars as high as the flag on Iwo Jima and showed us that their songs could never be defeated. And we were all a little teary eyed singing along with Paul to UNSATISFIED.

RUNNER UP:

Lydia Loveless – the Studio at Webster Hall – in any other year this show would have been number one. It was everything you could possibly want from a rock show: noisy one moment, a whisper the next, chaotic, frantic, full of surprises. Do not miss Lydia and company when they play your town in 2015. Because even compared to the reunited Mats, hers is the greatest rock band on the planet right now.

BEST NARRATIVE FILM:

IDA – directed by Paweł Pawlikowski – Quiet, haunting, and chillingly beautiful, this is a masterpiece of the sort Bergman might have made in the late 1950. A story of a young nun about to take her vows only to learn from her one living relative that she is Jewish. You will never forget this film.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM:

FINDING VIVIAN MAIER – directed by John Maloof & Charlie Siskel – a thrilling mystery that begins with a box of photo negatives bought at an auction and leads you through a life of a woman who was secretly one of the greatest photographers of our time. To everyone other than herself she was simply a nanny. Completely captivating.

BEST TV:

HOMELAND – Claire Danes and company came back from a horrible third season with a vengeance. This is edge of your seat, scream at the TV, need a stiff drink sort of drama. And while the ending was a slow burn, if was probably necessary after the wringer they put us through.

BOOKS OF THE YEAR:

DO NOT SELL AT ANY PRICE: THE WILD, OBSESSIVE HUNT FOR THE WORLD’S RAREST 78RPM RECORDS by Amanda Petrusich – More than just about old guys looking for 78s, it’s about obsession, about the history of American music, it’s about what drives us. I wish it were twice as long. Brilliant!

HOPE FOR FILM: FROM THE FRONT LINE OF THE INDEPENDENT CINEMA REVOLUTIONS by Ted Hope – a real-life in-the-trenches look at what it takes to make an independent feature. Trust me when I tell you, Hope knows what he’s talking about. Every filmmaker, every producer should read this book. You’ll learn more here than you will in any film class on the planet.

And that’s it. That’s enough. We’ve got a lot of great stuff coming up this year. A DOG NAMED GUCCI will be premiering shortly. And in January I’ll be announcing rock doc number four. Stay tuned. Come back for more. And please, never tell me to turn it down, ‘cause it ain’t loud enough.

The Best Music & Films of 2010

Best & Worst of 2010

I’ll be the first to admit that because I was making a documentary on The Replacements, I listened to them probably more than all other musicians combined. I rediscovered SORRY MA, FORGOT TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH, hearing things that I had somehow never heard before (perhaps I previously focused a little too much on LET IT BE, TIM, and PLEASED TO MEET ME). And I probably played IF ONLY YOU WERE LONELY more than any other song. If was like an old friend, whispering over my shoulder, giving me encouragement and at times enlightenment.

That said, here are what I believe to be the best albums of 2010, in order:

1. Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses – JUNKY STAR – If his voice doesn’t get you, the song writing certainly will. (Or at least the dirtiest guitar sound I’ve heard in a few years.) It was as if Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams had a kid, Eric Bachman was his older brother, and Paul Westerberg his obnoxious uncle. If that description doesn’t have you opening another browser window to order this damn thing now, then go and listen to HALLELUJAH (No, not the one we’d heard a million times over, another HALLELUJAH). I’ve given this album to a good half dozen people. The first word out of their mouths after one listen: “Hallelujah.” Then something like “wow.” Yeah, “wow,” says it best. This is a fucking great record, without a flaw.

2. Joanna Newsom – HAVE ONE ON ME – A three cd set that really defies description and begs to be heard from start to finish. A modern folk opera. Brilliant, certainly not for everyone, but if you give it a chance.

3. The Whigs – IN THE DARK – My favorite straight out rock album of the year. The closest thing I could find in the purest spirit of the Mats (that was actually worth listening to). KILL ME CAROLYNE is hands down my favorite song of the year.

4. Superchunk – MAJESTY SHREDDING – Shame on Mac and company for making us wait this long for another release, but one of the two best bands of the 90s (you know the Archers of Loaf was the other), returns to solid form with a record that sounds as if it could have been released in their heyday. LEARNED TO SURF is as good as rock gets in this decade.

5. Frightened Rabbit – THE WINTER OF MIXED DRINKS – An album of rousing anthems about drinking and screwing and all the things rock songs should be about. It’s one of those albums that just kept getting better on every listen. And that they can pull off the songs live was an eye-opener.

6. Ida Maria – KATLA – Last year she topped the list EASILY. And while this is nowhere the masterpiece of FORTRESS ROUND MY HEART, the gal from Norway nonetheless delivers 9 sucker punches. For anyone who thinks girls stopped rocking with Bikini Kill, give her a listen. Her lyrics are funny, sexy and the growl will make you weak in the knees.

7. Spoon – TRANSFERENCE – After writing these guys off because of their hideously lame GA GA GA cd from a few years back, Spoon returned to what they do best: catchy rock songs with good guitar licks. I know a bunch of people who wrote off this band after GA, take a chance and revisit them. While not as spectacular as GIRLS CAN TELL or KILL THE MOONLIGHT, still in a year of limp-doodle rock, it was damn refreshing.

8. Titus Andronicus – MONITOR – A concept album that may or may not be about the civil war. But who cares. It’s a rowdy collection of tunes that owe a lot to the spirit of The Replacements, and I can’t give a band higher praise.

9. The Gaslight Anthem – AMERICAN SLANG – Likewise Brian Fallon and company owe a bunch to the spirit of the Mats…with a little Springsteen tossed in. A solid rock album, a perfect summer driving record. Leading to…

10. Bruce Springsteen – THE PROMISE – outtakes from his best rock album (I’ll probably still take NEBRASKA over DARKNESS), his “punk” album if you will, are the sort of songs most rocker would die to write. Sure, it’s like reliving a time when rock music was exciting and vibrant, and it shook our worlds. Hmmm…because of that perhaps this should be in the number one slot.

The best songs of 2010 (in no particular order):
KILL ME CAROLYNE – The Whigs
CLEMENTINE – Sarah Jaffe
HURRICANE J – The Hold Steady
HALLELUJAH – Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses
LANTERN – Josh Ritter
PRECIOUS STONE – Pete Yorn
THE LONELINESS AND THE SCREAM – Frightened Rabbit
ANYBODY LOOKING FOR GOD – Grandpaboy

The most disappointing album:
THE SUBURBS – Arcade Fire – After the brilliance of NEON BIBLE my expectations were damn high. And at first listen I loved everything about this record. But by the fourth or fifth go around I was getting bored. And within a week it was removed from my playlist. I’ve never gone back. Have never even wanted to. Maybe it’s me.

MOVIES

Best Documentary: EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (WAS IT REAL? Who cares? It was entertaining as hell, and Banksy proved himself one of the art geniuses of modern times.)

Best Film: THE TOWN (Riveting, edge-of-your-seat drama from Ben Affleck. BEN AFFLECK! A rare gem in which you find yourself rooting for the bad guys. Rebecca Hall is heartbreakingly great.)

Most Enjoyable Film of 2010:
KICK-ASS (a movie that proved a beautifully foul-mouth 12-year-old girl could quite possibly be the greatest movie super hero of all time)

Guilty Pleasure Film of 2010:
CHLOE (two words: Amanda Seyfried)

Runners Up (In no particular order):
WINTER’S BONE
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

Worst Film of 2010
SOMEWHERE (I truly loved Sofia Coppola’s LOST IN TRANSLATION. But I don’t know what happened here. I kept waiting for something to happen. Kept waiting to feel something for any of these characters. Still waiting. So utterly boring.)

That’s my list. It’s subject to change. Having spent most of the year filming and editing, I certainly didn’t get to see everything. I’ll update it as I do…

To a rockin’ Replacements New Year!

Best (and Worst) Albums, Films & TV of the Decade

I love lists. Live for them. They make life sensible. So here are my lists of the best and worst in music, film and tv of this past decade. Hope to open some eyes.

BEST ALBUMS of the DECADE

Stereo/Mono (Paul Westerberg/Grandpaboy) – This was the album that should have followed PLEASED TO MEET ME. The Greatest songwriter of the past 30 years at the top of his game, over twenty tracks of perfection, with production so lose it falls apart. If he hadn’t already done it in 1981, PW would have reinvented rock again. Instead, he just re-staked his claim as its reigning God.

Crooked Fingers (Crooked Fingers) –With his new band, Eric Bachmann, lead singer of the single greatest band of the 90s, the Archers of Loaf, reinvented himself as the damaged troubadour, and created a collection of songs that would rival anything ever released by Dylan, Springsteen, or Townes Van Zandt. NEW DRINK FOR THE OLD DRUNK became my sing-along-at-the-top-of-your-lungs song for this decade, while everything else is stark and brilliant. He’ll break your heart while holding your hand. (And really, there is no horror film on the accompanying list, because the greatest horror film of the decade was the imagery invoked by the song JULIETTE.)

Cold Roses (Ryan Adams) – Sometimes Ryan Adams is brilliant, sometimes overindulgent, occasionally boring, but wearing his influences on his sleeves, from the Replacements to the Grateful Dead, Adams weaves his rose-laden imagery on this two cd set to alt-country perfection.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Wilco) – As great as everyone claims? Probably not. But still damn amazing. And the first track, I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART is as good as anything Wilco has ever recorded, and that’s saying an awful lot.

Essence (Lucinda Williams) – Lucinda William hit her mark on this boozy collection of lust and longing and pain. The title track is certainly the great lust song of the decade. Her voice has never sounded better.

The Thief & The Heartbreaker (Alberta Cross) – If Lynyrd Skynyrd has sounded like this back in 1977, I might have actually given Southern Rock a chance. But it’s not Southern, they’re from Brooklyn (the only good band at the moment from Brooklyn), and this brilliant 7-song EP sounds like the cd Ryan Adam should have made after COLD ROSES. The singer’s voice will break your fucking heart!

Fortress ‘Round My Heart (Ida Maria) – I had almost forgotten that women could actually still rock, with a vengeance no less. And then came IDA MARIA from Norway who put out the best CD of 2009. Live, she brings to mind Courtney Love minus the baggage and nasty attitude, but make no mistake, she could out rock and out roll any of the boys, and beat their asses to a pulp.

Ode to Sunshine (Delta Spirit) – An album that actually made you believe that there were, after all, new bands ready to carry the torch forward. Just a great band with a great singer playing great songs.

Taking the Long Way (Dixie Chicks) – Who would have thought that the most liberal protest song of the Bush era would come from the Dixie Chicks? And while NOT READY TO MAKE NICE can easily stand on its own as one of the greatest songs ever written, that it pulled no punches with one of the worst Presidents in history only adds to its thrills.

Fevers & Mirrors (Bright Eyes) – His masterpiece, back before he and others starting believing he was a god. Lo-Fi and brilliant, Dylan himself would have been proud of some of these damaged lyrical twists.

RUNNERS UP (in no particular order): Hometowns (Rural Alberta Advantage), War Elephant (Deer Tick), Neon Bible (Arcade Fire), Washington Square Serenade (Steve Earle), Magic, The Rising, Devils & Dust (all by Bruce Springsteen), Failer (Kathleen Edwards), Wilco, the album (Wilco), ONCE soundtrack.

WORST ALBUM of the DECADE

Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend) – everything that’s bad about the current state of rock music (and Brooklyn) can be summarized in two words: Vampire Weekend. As insipid as it is gutless, this embarrassing collection of ditties sounds more like children tinkering on adult-sized instruments, they haven’t the scope, the range, the insight, the maturity to even hope to make it work. And to add insult to injury, some idiots compared it to Paul Simon’s Graceland. Now that’s a slander lawsuit in my eyes!

RUNNER UP: Anything produced by Jon Brion. He makes everything sound like German cabaret from the 1930s, and even managed to castrate the rock band Spoon. Perhaps he and Vampire Weekend can hook up and create the ultimate ode to lame. Grow a fucking pair!

BEST FILMS of the DECADE

Once (John Carney) – pitch perfect in every way, shape, and blessed musical note. I guess I look at it this way, if I could have had my name attached to one film this decade, ONCE would have been it. I’ve seen it over and over again, and it still breaks my heart every time. The greatest use of music in a film ever? Yes, I’d say so. Both this and Amelie are creeping onto my list of the ten greatest films of all time.

Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet) – an adult fairy tale told in the imaginary city of Paris, where a big-eyed child grows up to be a beautiful big-eyed woman who seeks life’s smallest pleasures. Amelie was the first film I saw after 9/11, and in a time when all seemed lost, it gave me hope again. It made me believe in romance, in fairy tales, in happy endings, and in small pleasures.

Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola) – A tender story of love and longing wherein a look or what isn’t said can be the most powerful dialog of all. Subtle and brilliant.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry) – Certainly the greatest concept, if not the greatest script. And thankfully Jim Carry is so un-Jim Carry-like. A nightmare, a dream, a glimpse into the mind of a mad genius. Whatever it is, I’ll take it.

The Station Agent (Thomas McCarthy) – Just something about this film makes me happy, whether it be the terrific ensemble cast, the originality of the story, or the perfection of the pacing…every decade needs a quirky darling, and this is it.

Man On Wire (James Marsh) – The ultimate love song to the twin towers and the skyline of New York, as it used to be, as told by a crazy Frenchman who’s got more balls than certainly anyone in recent memory. It’s the story of an impossible dream…that somehow comes true. A marvel.

The Constant Gardner (Fernando Meirelles) – a heartbreaking romance between two perfect beautiful people, with a message no less. (The cinematography is nothing short of breathtaking.)

The Girl in the Café (David Yates) – a heartbreaking romance between two damaged misfits, with a message no less. Kelly Macdonald and Bill Nighy are awkwardly amazing.

Somersault (Cate Shortland) – Abbie Cornish gives the bravest performance of the decade as a young teen girl exploring everything wrong. Stunning.

RUNNERS-UP (in no particular order): Born into Brothels , City of God, Grizzly Man, Personal Velocity, DIG!, Vicki Christina Barcelona, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Surveillance, Mulholland Drive, Murderball, Speak, Memento, Half Nelson, Angel-A

WORST FILM of the DECADE

The Kiss (Gorman Bechard) – The film could have never been great, but it could have been watchable had it not been railroaded by an ego-centric producer ,with no understanding of the script, who was more interested in make a three million dollar demo reel for his actress wife than in telling a good story. I directed and co-wrote THE KISS, and the final version, which was edited and scored completely without my approval or involvement, makes me fucking cringe.

RUNNER UP: Punch Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson) – Alternately like watching paint dry (the extra boring paint, not the at-times-exciting paint) and listening to fingernails on a chalkboard. If the word “pretentious” had not year been devised, the phrase “punch drunk love” would have been used in its place. Even the usually brilliant Emily Watson cannot save this mess about, well, I honestly have no idea what it’s about, but then neither does the filmmaker. Oh, and it has what is quite possible the most annoying score in the history of film, by none other than…you guessed it…Jon Brion.

BEST TELEVISION of the DECADE

(I include my top ten, more or less in order, but with little explanation. I don’t feel any is really needed. It’s TV. It’s all a guilty pleasure, in one way or another.)

Glee (any show that can make me like a Journey song must be pretty damn powerful)

Survivor (especially the two back-to-back Stephenie LaGrossa seasons)

Weeds (first 3 seasons)

24 (first 5 seasons)

Entourage (first 3 seasons)

Mad Men (so well written)

Family Guy (best animated show on TV, and every week I get to say “I can’t believe they just said that on TV.”)

30 Rock (Tina Fey)

Sopranos (see Glee)

So You Think You Can Dance (for the amazing collection of young dancers, and for being the only talent show that actually showcases talent)

I include no worst TV list because ultimately it would be endless…

Until next decade…

Gorman Bechard

Lily Allen’s cover of STRAIGHT TO HELL by the Clash – a review

OK…first off, the 5 stars are for Lily Allen’s cover of STRAIGHT TO HELL.  And so you know where I am coming from.  I am not a huge fan of Ms. Allen.  Don’t really know her music.  Not my cup of tea.  I am however a huge Clash fan.  Saw them live 15 times from their first US gig to their last tour.  I’d rank them as one of the two greatest bands of all time.  (The other is the Replacements.)  Their music to me is sacred.  It should be respected, never covered.  And STRAIGHT TO HELL is one of my three favorite Clash songs.  Having said all that…

 

Ms. Allen cover of STRAIGHT TO HELL on the WAR CHILD PRESENTS HEROES compilation cd is the best song we will hear this year.  She and Mick Jones have taken his and Strummer’s brilliant melody, riff and lyric and somehow (I don’t know how) taken it to a level where few musicians ever get to even see, let alone attain.

 

From the opening da-da-da-da’s which sound so much like Strummer (I wish I knew for certain if they were, or if it was Jones), through to Ms. Allen’s phrasing, which is Billie Holiday-perfect, as are the production and the instrumentation, the song had been reinvented, re-envisioned.

 

And when Ms. Allen hits the bridge and sings “so mamma-san says” and the da-da-da-da’s start up again, I find the goosebumps coming and the tears welling. 

 

This really is the song she was born to sing.  It will make everything else that follows this year seem unimportant and unoriginal. 

 

As for the rest, well honestly I’d give the cd 2 stars out of 5 at best.  What we have are really bad covers of great songs (The Hold Steady, whom I like, doing injustice to ATLANTIC CITY), just misses (The TV On The Radio cover of HEROES is close, as is Beck doing Dylan), a number of what-were-these-people-thinking (really, you never cover the Ramones or Blondie, not because they’re the greatest songs ever written, but because you sound stupid even trying), a few that make you want to hear the originals and how they’re really done (The Kinks and the Costello songs) and the rest is just who-cares?

 

But all that said, listen to the Lilly Allen/Mick Jones track.  And genuflect in the presence of genius.

More top ten…and Springsteen (not the rock star)…

First off, after two weeks I can say that Springsteen is doing quite well adjusting to his new home. Likewise Phoebe has become a great big sister to the pup. I’ll post more pix soon. We’re also closing up all the work on the Connecticut State Film Commission Tax Credit we’re receiving for FRIENDS (WITH BENEFITS) and I will be posting a long blog explaining how everything went down, a good how-to for other indie filmmakers in the state.

But for now, yet another Top Ten CD list. This time from old friend Rob DeRosa. For the best of CT-based music you can hear Rob’s radio show on Thursdays on WESU FM, which is 88.1FM. It’s called HOMEGROWN. You can also listen to archived shows at: www.myspace.com/thinmanmusiclabel

Here now is his top ten:

The Hold Steady- Stay Positive. How could an ex Springstee fan not like these guys? Way too many words sometimes and chock full arrangements- that’s what drew me to early Bruce and it’s what enthralls me about The Hold Steady. I just hope there is no Nebraska in them to screw it all up.

The Mountain Movers- Why Don’t We open the Chest. This band is a pleasure. While I loved the horns on the first CD, the less is more approach here works even better. If Ric promises to bring extra strings, I’ll hire them for Daffodil Fest so I can hear this stuff live in my own backyard, so to speak.

The Manchurians 5×4, The Minster EP. I know, my label. But if this and my next picks were not worthy, we wouldn’t max out credit putting them out. This one rocks in a different way than the last one- probably due to Dean’s layering of sounds and his co-writing energizing Roger to write more songs than he ever did. Short- liethey like their live sets- but it kicks ass.

Frank Critelli- Watlzing Through Quicksand. Frank’s songs always had room for a full band and this disc shows why. His songs here are expansive and moving- and the tight band behind him propells him to rock star staus instead of simply the best folkie out there.

The Sawtelles- Dime Museum. Previously a either love ’em or leave ’em style- this CD shows incredible growth and cohesion of their rather unothadox style. Shany Lawson produced them the way it should have always been. Peter’s words are intiguing and Julie sings better than ever before.

MGMT- Oracular Spectacular suffice to say that this incredibly popular band was for all intense and purposes, my discovery. Well. not entirely- but the Wesleyan duo got their first off campus gig from me- as well as their first club date at Cafe 9 and their first airplay on my radio show. Then they went on to play every festival in the world this year( Cochella, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, Leeds, Reading, SXSW, Austin City one, two in australia and a few in Japan.) and get on most big music magazines best of lists. They deserve it. It’s a psychedelic dance fest with pithy, ironic and cheeky lyrics. AND the drummer is nailing Kirstin Dunst. Every young rockers dream story.

The top ten continues…

I turn now to friend Vinnie Penn, who has supplied a top ten cd list all his own.  Hw swears he read neither mine nor Matt Bialer’s before putting together his list.  What’s most surprising his worst cd of the year.  And this is just a theory, and I’m accusing no one of anything, but…perhaps no one actually likes Vampire Weekend except for those who were paid off to like them.  It’s the only explanation that makes sense really.  The old payola machine still turning.  Nothing having changed much since the 1950s.  Like I said, just a theory of mine.  But it sure would explain things…

Anyway, here’s Vinnie’s list, and proof positive that he is a comic after all:

Vinnie Penn’s Top Ten CD’s of 2008: 

Counting Crows—-Sat. Nights/Sun. Mornings: A damn good reason I don’t mind not doing radio on a daily basis every day anymore; why weren’t at least 3 songs from this record in heavy rotation? Lyrically, Duritz is in top form.

 

Gaslight Anthem 59 Sound—Outrageous, how good this is. Plus they open for Jesse Malin. ‘Nuff said.

 

Malin Mercury Retrograde—Nobody out there is doing it better, and nobody can argue.

 

AC/DC Black Ice—-It’s ACDC. There wouldn’t be strippers without them. Be serious. 

 

Shinedown–The Sound of Madness: Proof that there is hope for rock ‘n roll on radio. 

 

Extreme—Saudades de Rock: Proof that there is hope for rock ‘n roll with record labels.

 

The Morning Of: Great piano, great harmonies. Makes me want to walk around NYC. 

 

Hold Steady—Stay Positive: Could’ve had one or two more strong tracks but the ones that are are just window-down anthems. Love this band. 

 

Candlebox—Into the Sun: The last song on the CD alone makes it worth getting. 

 

Rick Springfield—Venus in Overdrive: My boy is still an underrated guitarist, and this record is earning him long overdue critical cred. Laugh all you want. It’s the soap thing. 

 

And what was up with Vampire Weekend? Talk about hype. Further proof that the “machine” can make hits, be it in music, publishing, on-screen, etc.   

   

Visit Vinnie’s website: http://www.vinniepenn.net/

(yeah, I know…a dot-net…explains a lot)