We started off strong with a few fantastic albums in the first 3 1\/2 months of the year. Things slowed a bit, with some fine but not great albums, as we moved into summer. So let\u2019s run through some of my favorite albums since April.<\/p>\n
Teeth Dreams<\/em> – The Hold Steady Of these albums, only Spoon\u2019s can challenge for the finest of their career. But in each case, they are well-crafted, \u201ccrank it up and enjoy the rock\u201d affairs.<\/p>\n Essential songs: HEAL<\/em> – Strand of Oaks The Voyager<\/em> – Jenny Lewis You can\u2019t write about Lewis without mentioning the Fleetwood Mac, California in the 70s vibe that seems to penetrate most of her music. All of that is very present here, but it sounds fresh and gorgeous rather than recycled and derivative. Bonus Albums We started off strong with a few fantastic albums in the first 3 1\/2 months of the year. Things slowed a bit, with some fine but not great albums, as we moved into summer. So let\u2019s run through some of my favorite albums since April. Teeth Dreams – The Hold Steady Beauty & Ruin – Bob Mould They Want My Soul – Spoon Brill Busters – The New Pornographers Each of these albums are exactly what you want from each band. The Hold Steady gives you solid, literate bar rock. Mould again shares the majestic brand of post-punk pop that he\u2019s been cranking out since the early 90s. Spoon offers up a terrific blend of intelligent, indie rock over dancey grooves. And The New Pornographers hit their mark with more epic power pop. Of these albums, only Spoon\u2019s can challenge for the finest of their career. But in each case, they are well-crafted, \u201ccrank it up and enjoy the rock\u201d affairs. Essential songs: \u201cSpinners\u201d – The Hold Steady \u201cI Don\u2019t Know You Anymore\u201d – Bob Mould \u201cRent I Pay\u201d – Spoon \u201cBrill Busters\u201d – The New Pornographers HEAL – Strand of Oaks An absolute emotional monster of an album. Moments of it are about Indiana native Timothy Showalter\u2019s childhood and the moments when he first discovered music. Others are about lost musical heroes. But the album has its biggest impact in the songs where Showalter lays out the failings in his marriage in great detail. He tells both of his indiscretions and lays out his wife\u2019s infidelities as well. Most of this is done over music that has a strong 1980s vibe. It\u2019s not quite the nostalgia-overload of last year\u2019s brilliant Okkervil River album The Silver Gymnasium. But it\u2019s in the ballpark. Essential song: \u201cGoshen \u201997\u201d The Voyager – Jenny Lewis Lewis released this album to enormous praise and press. On my first listen, it didn\u2019t connect with me and I kind of forgot about it. A few weeks later I gave it another shot and fell in love with it. Or at least the first five tracks, which are each stellar and together irresistible. It\u2019s also nice to see a woman doing what men have done for decades: write an album about growing older and the many emotional dilemmas that presents. Of course, men usually do it in their 40s. Lewis, who is still in her 30s, sings of approaching 40 and still being single and childless and the mistakes she\u2019s made along the way that have left her that way. It\u2019s honest, open, and touching. You can\u2019t write about Lewis without mentioning the Fleetwood Mac, California in the 70s vibe that seems to penetrate most of her music. All of that is very present here, but it sounds fresh and gorgeous rather than recycled and derivative. Essential song: \u201cHead Underwater\u201d Bonus Albums As I mentioned on last week\u2019s Friday Vid post, I\u2019ve been digging Ryan Adams lately. His 1984 7\u201d collection is fantastic. And this week he released his self-titled full-length album, which fits nicely into the vibe I\u2019ve been digging for awhile. It feels very late 70s, early 80s Springsteen\/Petty\/Knopfler-ish. Not music I was necessarily listening to back then. But that sound hits me in all the right places now. Essential songs: \u201cWolves,\u201d \u201cGimme Something Good\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-3822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-music"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14208,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822\/revisions\/14208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBeauty & Ruin<\/em> – Bob Mould
\nThey Want My Soul<\/em> – Spoon
\nBrill Busters<\/em> – The New Pornographers
\nEach of these albums are exactly what you want from each band. The Hold Steady gives you solid, literate bar rock. Mould again shares the majestic brand of post-punk pop that he\u2019s been cranking out since the early 90s. Spoon offers up a terrific blend of intelligent, indie rock over dancey grooves. And The New Pornographers hit their mark with more epic power pop.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cSpinners\u201d – The Hold Steady
\n\u201cI Don\u2019t Know You Anymore\u201d – Bob Mould
\n\u201cRent I Pay\u201d – Spoon
\n\u201cBrill Busters\u201d – The New Pornographers<\/p>\n
\nAn absolute emotional monster of an album. Moments of it are about Indiana native Timothy Showalter\u2019s childhood and the moments when he first discovered music. Others are about lost musical heroes. But the album has its biggest impact in the songs where Showalter lays out the failings in his marriage in great detail. He tells both of his indiscretions and lays out his wife\u2019s infidelities as well. Most of this is done over music that has a strong 1980s vibe. It\u2019s not quite the nostalgia-overload of last year\u2019s brilliant Okkervil River album The Silver Gymnasium<\/em>. But it\u2019s in the ballpark.
\nEssential song: \u201cGoshen \u201997\u201d<\/p>\n
\nLewis released this album to enormous praise and press. On my first listen, it didn\u2019t connect with me and I kind of forgot about it. A few weeks later I gave it another shot and fell in love with it. Or at least the first five tracks, which are each stellar and together irresistible. It\u2019s also nice to see a woman doing what men have done for decades: write an album about growing older and the many emotional dilemmas that presents. Of course, men usually do it in their 40s. Lewis, who is still in her 30s, sings of approaching 40 and still being single and childless and the mistakes she\u2019s made along the way that have left her that way. It\u2019s honest, open, and touching.<\/p>\n
\nEssential song: \u201cHead Underwater\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAs I mentioned on last week\u2019s Friday Vid post, I\u2019ve been digging Ryan Adams lately. His 1984<\/em> 7\u201d collection is fantastic. And this week he released his self-titled full-length album, which fits nicely into the vibe I\u2019ve been digging for awhile. It feels very late 70s, early 80s Springsteen\/Petty\/Knopfler-ish. Not music I was necessarily listening to back then. But that sound hits me in all the right places now.
\nEssential songs: \u201cWolves,\u201d \u201cGimme Something Good\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"