THE FELICE BROTHERS, VALLEY OF ABANDONED SONGS

A few years back, Ian Felice started revisiting old demos that he said had never seen the light of day and recordings that hadn't found a home on previous albums. He started thinking of them as the Valley of Abandon Songs. Soon after, he reached out to his good friend Conor Oberst who was starting a new label and floated the idea of putting these songs together on an album and giving it this very name. 

Listening to The Felice Brothers latest album, Valley of Abandoned Songs, one would never guess that these were scrapped songs or that they were not written as a cohesive collection to be put out into the world together. These are all gems that shine and once again shine a spotlight on The Felice Brothers special indie-folk rock talents.

 

DYLAN LEBLANC, COYOTE

LeBlanc was in Austin, Texas, climbing the face of a 100-foot cliff, gambling with 'Mother Nature’s good graces' as he pulled himself up by tree branches. Once he reached the top, all that laid ahead of him was a lush treeline. There was a breath of stillness, then the sound of a thunderous rustling that drew closer and closer to him. In a blink, LeBlanc watched as a frenzied raccoon came speeding out of the treeline, trailed by an animal that stopped and stared at him with striking intensity: a coyote. 

As LeBlanc describes the moment, “We’re looking at each other dead in the eyes…and I’m saying -- out loud -- ‘If it’s you or me, I am going to kick you off the side of this cliff. I’m not going down.’ LeBlanc recalls that it was an intense, human-animal moment. A moment that he's never forgotten. 

Living on the edge of danger with its many consequences is the theme woven throughout the songs on Coyote, LeBlanc's fifth album. LeBlanc has said that that it's an autobiographical and concept album built around a character named Coyote, a man who is on the run. Set against a moody and atmospheric folk rock musical backdrop with a tinge of psychedelia, LeBlanc's songs have a cinematic feel to them, like the closing scene of a movie where the protagonist is last seen walking down an empty Texas highway on a cool clear night reflecting on his many trials and tribulation while his camp fire is left smoldering, crackling, and popping in the distance. It's a highway where I want to be. I just love this album and I think that you will as well.

This Circus Life, The Vast and Endless Sea

For some, life's road traveled can be more winding and unimaginable than others. For a few it can boarder on the truly far-fetched. This is definitely the case for This Circus Life's Charlie Mear, if his life's story is believed to be true. Regardless, Mear is an image rich writer and storyteller.

On The Vast and Endless Sea, the second album by This Circus Life, Mear and this English Band don't so much tell stories as capture moments of reflection of life's big and little...moments. And they are image rich and emotionally full. With song-structures and musical arrangements that remind me of The Leisure Society and Crowded House, The Vast and Endless Sea is pure listening enjoyment.

The Dead Tongues, Transmigration Blues

In a recent interview, Ryan Gustafson aka The Dead Tongues was asked which elements of nature he spends the most time with and how it impacts his work. Gustafson said that living in a

cabin pretty deep into the Blue Ridge Mountains he’s immersed in nature. 

He said, “It’s stunning and dynamic with big sunsets, old growth trees and wild storms, bears and coyote packs, but the more time I spend out here, the more apparent the subtle changes in environment become. It’s always in transition and conversation. I feel like my music and writing is entirely affected by the environment I’m in and trying to understand my experience within it. Sometimes that comes out in story, imagery or just a sound. Without a doubt there’s a magic and spirit out here I’m reaching out to.” And this is the essence Transmigration Blues. Simply one of the best albums of the year.

ON ROTATION

Lots of great music. Not enough time to write about it all...but here's what's on rotation for me right now. 

Destroyer, Have We Met

   

Bonny Light Horseman, Bonny Light Horseman

   

Brandon Wolfe Scott, Burden on Your Shoulders

   

TOP ALBUMS OF 2019

2019 closes out a decade of music with some of the best albums that I have heard over the past ten years. In a few days I will be posting my 'best of the decade' list. In the meantime, here are my favorite albums of 2019.

10. Mike Posner, A Real Good Kid 

In April, Mike Posner started a nine month walk across the country. In an interview with CBS, Posner said that his hope from the walk was to fall in love with being in the present moment and being perfectly incomplete. Facing the death of his father to cancer, his friend and collaborator Avicii to suicide, and breakup with his girlfriend, Posner's world came crashing down and he found himself pondering life and death, family, friends, and how he had come to define success. On A Real Good Kid, Posner pours his heart and soul into a collection of songs that bring us into the mind of a broken man looking to find a new inner peace and perspective on living. 

9. Peter Perrett, Humanworld

Addiction to Heroin and crack took decades from Peter Perrett, but not his music or musical ideas. Now, at the age of 67, Perrett is making some of the best music of his career. As The Guardian wrote, Humanworld isn't just good by the standards of albums made by people who spent years on hard drugs, or by the standards of late career revivals: it's simply a very good album indeed. It 'manages to avoid both the possible traps: trying too hard to sound current, or trying too hard to recapture past glories. Instead it's clean, and sharp, and melodic guitar rock.'

8. Marillion, With Friends From The Orchestra

I have become a huge Marillion fan over the past few years. It all started when I started spending time with 2006’s Marbles which has since become one of my favorite albums. Once I did, I found myself going down the rabbit’s hole of all things Marillion going back to when Steve Hogarth joined the band in 1989. It’s crazy to think that I had paid them little attention for so long. It’s also crazy to see them still together and sounding as great as ever after 30 years. 

With Friends From The Orchestra, the band revisits and reimagines nine songs from their extensive catalog. Was this necessary? I would have said ‘no’ until I listed to them. Now I will say a resounding ‘yes.’ In fact I will say that a few of these new versions are better than the originals including This Strange Engine. Whether you are a fan or Marillion or have no idea who they are….do yourself a favor and spend some time with this album. 

7. Rex Orange Country, Pony

English singer/Songwriter Alexander O'Connor, who records under the name Rex Orange Country closed out the year for me with Pony, his major label debut, which was released a few weeks ago. It was 'that' album that I had been waiting for all year, but did not know it until I heard it. American Songwriter pointed to his 'unique pop prosody and production skills and inventiveness.' Jazz-tinged songs full of catchy hooks and charm, Pony is as NME writes, 'a total delight.

6. FINNEAS, Blood Harmony

Turn your attention away from the hype of Billie Eilish and towards her brother Finneas, the creative engine behind her music. On his short EP Blood Harmony, Finneas is right out in front where he belongs. Best said by Atwood Magazine, 'From the heartbreaking mourning of a friendship lost in “I Lost A Friend”, to the symbiotic, infatuated co-dependency of “Die Alone”. Blood Harmony explores soundscapes that range from radio-ready pop hits to stripped down ballads, never losing its polish or unique cinematic quality, and reveals that FINNEAS is a master at telling stories about those who surround, or once surrounded, him.'

5. The LaFontaines, Junior

Catchy, ballsy, hard edged, melodic, and packing a punch. That is how Rock N' Load Mag described The LaFontaines third album Junior. Fusing Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, and R & B in ways that are both bold and brashy (Bring The Noise), these Scotts grab your attention and don't let it go. This is a killer album that I have not been able to turn away from since its release.

   

4. Lana Del Rey, Norman Fucking Rockwell!

Del Rey’s talent has been misunderstood throughout her career, writes Spencer Kornhaber in the Atlantic, 'but with the freighter-heavy and canyon-gorgeous new album Norman Fucking Rockwell, maybe she’ll be seen for the essential writer of her times that she is.'  

As someone who has not only misunderstood Rey, but has also not taken her seriously as an artist, I approached NFR with skepticism. I can confirm that Kornhaber is 100% on point! Singing 'exquisitely of freedom and transformation and the wreckage of being alive, Pitchfork contributing Editor Jenn Pelly aptly penned that NFR establishes Rey as one of American's greatest living songwriters.

3. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Ghosteen

How does one grieve over the loss of a child and the endless tidal waves of emotions that overwhelm one's ability to just breath let alone live? Over three albums, concluding with Ghosteen, Nick Cave has been grappling with the tragic death of his teenage son in 2015 which left him utterly broken. 

On Ghosteen, the shock of Cave's son's death has passed, but devastation and isolation have slowly transformed into memories and loneliness and Cave finds himself asking more questions than ever. Now it's on to "what do I do now, where do I go?(Sputnik). There are no easy answers as Tracy Thorn masterfully conveys in her review of the album. “The past with its savage undertow” appears in two songs – in one it lets go, while in another, it will never let go, there is no escape. And you feel that both are true. There is no resolution. Songs hint at the possibility of recovery, then evert to despair. The need for acceptance of loss is in constant tension with the impossibility of acceptance."

Yet, by the end of the album, you get a sense that he has come to terms as he sings "it's a long way to find peace of mind, and I'm just waiting now for my time to come." This is an astonishing album that is a must listen.

2. RPWL, Tales From Outer Space

Tales From Outer Space is a late addition to my list of favorite albums for 2019. I actually discovered this album in April of 2020 when I fell upon RPWL, a band not familiar to me. I was immediate drawn to this German progressive rock band and their extensive twenty year catalog of albums, both studio and live. As a band that started as a Pink Floyd cover band, you can certainly hear the PF influences, especially their later work (think The Division Bell). With this said, this is truly an original album and having listened to most of RPWL's albums, I will say that Tales From Outer Space is one of their best and at least right now, my favorite.

1. Tool, Fear Inoculum

Tool fans, such as myself, waited 13 long years for the band's follow up to 10,000 days. And now we have Fear Inoculum to consume and ponder. As Sputnik Music wrote, this album is a 'massive, compelling piece of music that unfolds beautifully and balances Tool’s unique style with plenty of rewarding new elements. Any fears that they would not live up to their past can be abated; Fear Inoculum is truly groundbreaking and one of the best albums of the decade.' I agree!

ON ROTATION

Fionn Regan, Cala

   

Bon Iver, i,i

   

ON ROTATION

Lots of great music. Not enough time to write about it all...but here's what's on rotation for me right now. 

Foxwarren, Foxwarren 

   Song: Everything Apart

The 1975, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships 

   Song: TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME

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ON ROTATION

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of January and I have not offered up any Picks Of The Week this month. It is not for a lack of listening. Honestly, I have just not found a lot of new music to get get me excited so far this year. Fortunately, it appears that the tides are turning. New albums by First Aid Kit, Polica, Foxy Shazam, and Hospitality are great listens to bring in the new year!

First Aid Kit, The Lion's Roar
The Lion's Roar, the sophomore release by sisters Johanna & Klara Söderberg, was the first album to really grab me this year. Hailing from Stockholm, Johanna & Klara, at the ripe old ages of 22 and 19, are making some seriously good americana music. Listening to The Lion's Roar, I was repeatedly taken by the warmth and beauty of the vocal harmonies achieved by them. There is also such an authenticity to what First Aid Kit is doing here musically that I had to keep reminding myself they were from Sweden and not from the heartland of America. They are a great reminder that this wonderful style of music belongs to everyone. The Lion's Roar is a great way to kick off your 2012 musical collection.
                                                        Emmylou  

Polica, Give You The Ghost

Minneapolis based Polica is set to release their debut album, Give You The Ghost on Feb. 14th. An electro-synth, pop album that lives a bit on the dark side, Give You The Ghost is one of the more confident debut albums that I have heard in some time. The album, which is just a pleasure to listen to from a musical standpoint, really shines as a result of its unique aesthetics. The band applies a very cool texturing effect to both lead singer Channey Leaneagh's beautiful vocals, and the music itself. The result gives these songs an unusual combination of warmth and intimacy but also remoteness, making these songs feel a bit other-worldly. Holding the songs together and pushing them along is a tight and driving bass and drum combo that I could sit down and listen to 
                                                       alone all day. All of these elements together make Give You The
                                                       Ghost something worthy of exploring upon its release.
                                                        Lay Your Cards Out   

Foxy Shazam, The Church Of Rock And Roll
Cincinnati based Foxy Shazam may or may not be the most electrifying rock band to inhabit the planet for the past seven years, as they self proclaim. But I agree with them that they have unleashed one grandiose album on the world with The Church Of Rock And Roll. A band that takes a page or two from Queen, Meatloaf, Pat Benatar and handful of other rockers from the late 70's and early 80's who knew how to inject a little glam and theatrics into their music, Foxy Shazam are out to have fun with big, bombastic, and over-the-top music. There is nothing subtle, tempered, or reserved about the band's music, and for this I am very greatful. I totally loved every minute of The 
                                                       Church Of Rock And Roll and you will to. 
                                                       Welcome To The Church Of Rock And Roll  

Hospitality, Hospitality
Hospitality describe their self-titled release as an exploration of Youth, New York, and the bittersweet commingling of past and present. Listening to Hospitality, I appreciated the storytelling. But what I really enjoyed was the way the band wraps their lyrics in music that is light filled and full of pop. But none of these songs would be as successful were it not for the warm, inviting, and at times quirky voice of singer Amber Papini. Papini finds just the right notes to bridge the band's lyrics and music in a wonderful way, giving these songs lots of heart.  
Eighth Avenue