The Best of 2024

I really shouldn't call it the "Best of". Maybe "My Favorites of 2024" would be better. I've looked at the lists on most of the major music publications, and there's a lot that I haven't heard. I actually got through Charli XCX's Brat, and Beyonce's Cowboy Carter (Beyonce was mildly entertaining). I couldn't make it through Sabrina Carpenter's Short n' Sweet. Hey, I don't really like music that is manufactured rather than performed, so there's that. I did appreciate a few songs from contemporary popular artists on a stroll through The Best Songs of 2024 from a mainstream publication, but not enough to run out and buy or bookmark anything. So, here's the one's I liked a lot this year:

The Lemon Twigs A Dream Is All We Know

New York's finest power-poppers come through in spades. Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds, Raspberries, they do it all and make it sound fresh and new.

Fantastic Cat Now That's What I Call Fantastic Cat

An indie rock "super group" of singer songwriter multi-instrumentalists makes a rollicking fun record with a positive attitude. Only slightly more rocking than power-pop, think Rockpile, Cheap Trick and a touch of Americana.

The Weeklings Raspberry Park

This one forms a great power-pop triumvirate with the two previous. Weeklings have made their mark as a Beatles cover band, and a really good one. The originals are all solid pop/rock. Super covers of She's Leaving Home and I've Just Seen A Face, and a mash-up of Satisfaction and Mr. Soul that is brilliant.

Nick Lowe Indoor Safari

Not really a new record, but a collection of singles and EPs from the last ten years or so, all done with Los Straightjackets. It's nice to have it all in one place, and they have really become a great band together. The excellent Trombone and Don't Be Nice To Me are standouts, but it's all solid Nick Lowe after ten years since his last LP. 

Bill Charlap Trio And Then Again

Just one great jazz trio doing standards. But with Charlap and his talented sidemen, it is inventive and spontaneous jazz with what Downbeat magazine calls "seamless interaction and extrasensory communication". Great jazz.

Jenny Scheinman All Species Parade

Scheinman has been making interestingly unique jazz for quite a while, and almost all of it is easy to approach and yet challenging in it's own way. Featuring a cast of greats that Scheinmen has worked with before, everything comes out very fine. The sound of a mature artist with ideas to spare.

The Palomar Trio The Song In Our Soul

Hearkening back to the early swing jazz of the 1920s and 1930s, and featuring songs from that era, this record is just a joy. Tap your foot, sway in your chair, and smile, smile smile. 

Louis Cole nothing

Jazz fusion/pop/funk/ electronic/orchestral music. When have you heard that combination before? Louis Cole teams up with the Metropole Orkest jazz orchestra to produce a great record that is a genre to itself.

Continental Drifters White Noise & Lightening: The Best of Continental Drifters

A "best of" from a band that last recorded in 2001. I really loved everything they did (all four records). One of my favorite neglected bands of all time.

Shelby Lynn Consequences of the Crown

We've been waiting for twenty years for I Am Shelby Lynn #2. This isn't quite that, but it is closer than she's ever come, and one heck of a great record. 

St. Vincent All Born Screaming

Another solid outing from Ms. Clark, with great songs, killer vocals, and scary aggression. What can't this woman do with a guitar? 

Vampire Weekend Only God Was Above Us

The smartest indie rock band around gives us a great one, the best since Contra. If you were a little disappointed with Father of the Bride, they are back in spades.

Willis, Carper, Leigh Wonder Women of Country

A six-song EP that lives up to the title. Everything's good, and there's two new ones from Kelly Willis' pen. Carper and Leigh hold up their end of the bargain just fine.

Lance Cowen So Far, So Good

A respected Nashville publicist makes his first record in his sixties. A little bit like a new Guy Clark album sometimes, and of course that is high praise. He can sound a bit like John Denver, and he can get a little twee, but there are lots of great songs and beautifully recorded acoustic instrumentation.

Wings Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes)

Often considered McCartney's best Wings/solo effort, it sounds even better stripped of the orchestration. The live-in-the-studio One Hand Clapping from the same time period is big fun too.

John Leventhal Rumble Strip

After producing a gazillion great records, Leventhal steps out on his own. Gentle, lovely, mostly instrumental acoustic gems with two vocals by wife Rosanne Cash. Relax and listen to some darn good music. 

Mark Knopfler One Deep River

Craftsmanship. Since 1996, Knopfler has made one subtly great record after another. Yes, he's a wonderful guitarist, but he's also an equally gifted songwriter, and his singing has a heartfelt and well-worn comfort to it. You can get just over Dire Straits by now. 

Zappadan 2024

It's Zappadan again. The celebration of the life and art of the iconoclast Frank Zappa.

There's Zappadan on Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, and of course in the blogosphere.

Zappadan can be found around the blogosphere at Mad Blog Media, Arts Meme, And Now It's All This, eVille Times, You Call That News?, Cirdec Songs, Ketchup Is A Vegetable, We're Only In It For The Music, and archival posts at Fried Green al-Qaedas, Mark Hoback's blog. Mark was there at the beginning, along with Blue Gal when Zappadan was birthed.

I've written extensively for the celebration in the past. It's all right here. There's even a few Zappa posts in addition to Zappadan content, and that stuff is included here.

You can listen to my personal favorite Zappa record at YouTube.

Continental Drifters

One of my favorite nineties bands has been busy with the back catalog lately, and it's great news for fans. The band made four studio records between 1994 and 2001. The eponymous debut 1994, Vermillion 1998, Better Day 2001, and the German market release Listen, Listen 2001, a tribute to Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny. In 2003, they released Nineteen Ninety-Three, recorded in the title year before Vickie Peterson and Susan Cowsill joined. 

In 2015 came Drifted: In The Beginning and Beyond, a two CD set that re-released the Nineteen Ninety-Three material, the entirety of Listen, Listen (both of which were out of print), and a slew of demos, rarities, live tracks, and one-offs done for tribute records. The earliest recordings (1993) are good but are not quite as exciting as their main releases. The Listen, Listen material is essential listening. The rest of the various material is solid and nice to have collected. The set is a must for fans of this excellent band. 

Continental Drifters Live at the 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2023 documents a recent reunion set that samples most of the catalog and the band sounds great. The recording is good, but maybe not great, probably from the soundboard. They're having lots of fun and it is a hot set.

And now in 2024 comes White Noise & Lightening The Best of the Continental Drifters. It's a well-curated single CD (or vinyl LP) that shows off most of their ample talents and top notch songcraft. In the annals of wonderful bands woefully neglected, Continental Drifters are near the top of the list. If you've never heard them, the recent Best Of is the place to start. If you loved the band and didn't catch the Drifted release, it is well worth your time and money.

Spinning Vinyl

This is the special Saturday night after-dinner nightcap version of Spinning Vinyl. After an outstanding Italian dinner, we returned home for a nightcap and a card game and some music, all featuring pianists. 

First up was side two of Diana Krall's From This Moment On 2006. There isn't anything earth-shattering about this particular Diana Krall Record, but it is a solid outing of standards featuring the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and Krall's lovely voice and fine piano. It is a swell selection of songs performed flawlessly and arranged beautifully. Day In Day Out, Come Dance With Me, and Little Girl Blue stood out, but the whole side is just about perfect.

Next was Allen Toussaint's swan song American Tunes 2106, side one, featuring Toussaint's Delores' Boyfriend, Fats Waller's Viper's Drag, Professor Longhair's Mardi Gras In New Orleans, and Billy Strayhorn's Lotus Blossom, and everything works.The record is a mix of Toussaint solo piano recordings from 2013 and what would have been a new studio record that was unfinished before he died in 2015. The 2015 recordings are done with a stellar cast including Bill Frisell, Jay Belerose, Greg Leisz, Charles Lloyd, David Piltch, Adam Levy, and Van Dyke Parks. It is a wonderful Toussaint record, almost as good as his high water mark The Bright Mississippi 2009.

My wife and I are both huge fans of Ahmad Jamal. We both saw him live many moons ago and then had a chance to see him together in Seattle in 2006. I love his work from the fifties and sixties as much as any jazz pianist, and he continued to make great music in his rhythmically inventive style until 2019, just four years before his death at age 93. Saturday Morning 2013 is merely another of his great late career masterpieces. We listened to side one, with the title track and Back To The Future (both by Jamal) as well as I'll Always Be With You, the 1945 Perry Como hit.

Lastly we heard Ellis Marsalis' For All We Know 2020, side two. This recording is just outstanding, and Marsalis plays with his son Jason on vibes, who gets to shine frequently. The record, on the audiophile vinyl-only Newvelle records, has amazing sound, with both piano and vibraphone beautifully captured. Marsalis is a wonderfully fluid player, song selection is lovely, and we get to hear Marsalis' relaxed style one more time just months before his passing.

The one thing all these records have in common (other than piano) is great sound. Tommy LiPuma always made Krall's records sound great, as did Joe Henry on Toussaint's last three albums. Saturday Morning was recorded in France by some talented engineers using state of the art equipment, and everything on Newvelle Records is lovingly produced with attention to sonic detail. That doesn't matter if the music isn't up to the same high bar, but all of these performances are truly special.

Elton John in the 2000s

Elton John has had a long and successful career, especially considering the quality of his output throughout the eighties and nineties. He has toured frequently and puts on a good show, usually heavy on his seventies hits.

Between Elton John 1970 and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy 1975, Elton made nine records that were either darn good or great. Then, around 1975-1976, quality dropped off. Rock of the Westies was pretty bad, and Blue Moves could have been a decent single disc, but didn't impress as a double album. I liked it, but even I have had to reexamine my opinion, and it isn't the last great one I once thought it was. But I still love side three.

Between A Single Man 1978 and The Big Picture 1997, Elton made fourteen unsatisfying records. There were almost always one or two keepers, but as albums, it was a very rough period, and it lasted 20 years. A few of them showed potential, and several were just awful.

Then in 2001 came Songs From The West Coast. A stellar return to form, and sounding similar to his seventies greats, it contained a whole bunch of great songs in I Want Love, This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore, Original Sin, Dark Diamond, Birds, Love Her Like Me, and Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes. You could listen to the whole thing.

Peachtree Road 2004 came very close to matching Songs From The West Coast, with Weight of the World, Answer In The Sky, All That I'm Allowed, and Turn The Lights Out When You Leave.

The sequel to Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, The Captain and the Kid 2006 kept the quality high, and remarkably almost matched the original in it's ability to write Bernie Taupin's and Elton John's musical biography.

2010 saw the release of The Union with Leon Russell. The two record set, unfortunately produced by T-Bone Burnett, was light on great songs, and had a thick, overly layered, sound that didn't help. Like so many other two-record affairs, it would have been a really fine single disc.

The Diving Board 2013 saw T-Bone Burnett return to the producer's chair, but instead of the big production and millions of players on The Union, most of the record is recorded by piano, bass and drums trio, with occasional additional keyboards. A Town Called Jubilee, Mexican Vacation, The Ballad of Blind Tom, and Can't Stay Alone Tonight were all good, and so was most of the rest.

Finally, in 2016, Elton gave us Wonderful Crazy Night. Strong songs include In The Name of You, Tambourine, Blue Wonderful, Looking Up, and the title track. T-Bone Burnett stays out of the way for a record featuring the touring band and a bunch of good songs. Again, you can listen to the whole thing without needing to fast forward. Pretty amazing after making records for something like fifty years.

I'll skip the Pnau remix album Good Morning to the Night 2012 (it's remixes, and it sold well), the duets record The Lockdown Sessions 2021 (has anyone made a great duets record?) and Regimental Sgt. Zippo 2021 (recorded in 1967 before even Empty Sky, and never released, for good reason).

Given the dearth of good records for some twenty years, Elton John has made a miraculous recovery in this century. If you liked his early work and wrote him off somewhere in the eighties, you should give him another shot. The last twenty years have been darn good for Elton John, and his fans. 

Bette Midler

She's not the greatest singer ever, but she's a darn good one. She isn't the greatest actress ever, but she's a darn good one. She's not the greatest comedienne either, but she's, again, a darn good one. I'll leave her acting and comedic performances to one with more knowledge of those things. She's not the easiest singer to appreciate, but let's give it a try.

She started so strong that it almost set the stage for mid-career problems. Her first two, The Devine Miss M 1972 and Bette Midler 1973 set up her entire career. Everything was on - her love of female harmonies expressed through the Andrews Sisters and the Ronettes, her heart-on-the-sleeve delivery of a big ballad, and a touch of rock and roll. These were not only her first records, but they were also her best.

The three that followed that fine pair (Songs for the New Depression 1976, Broken Blossom 1977, and Thighs and Whispers 1979) were, for lack of a better word, disappointing. They don't figure prominently on her hits compilations. But her soundtrack to The Rose 1979 held her solid versions of When A Man Loves A Woman and Stay With Me, both of which, along with the title track, would feature in her live performances and compilations. Two uneven live records failed to capture her energetic live shows. Even her awful No Frills 1983, which suffered from everything wrong with the eighties, at least held her solid versions of the Stones' Beast of Burden and Marshall Crenshaw's Favorite Waste of Time, a couple of her better rockers.

Between 1988 and 1993 she did three more soundtracks for movies in which she starred, and of course Beaches 1988 includes her biggest hit Wind Beneath My Wings. Some People's Lives 1990 continued her big ballad period, and is one of her better records. Arif Mardin did an excellent job with a sympathetic production that let Midler shine.

As for big hit records that make a lot of money, her ballads The Wind Beneath My Wings, The Rose, and From A Distance, made her a household name, and she milked that big ballad thing for a while on her album releases. But that didn't really help her work between 1995 and 2000. Bette of Roses 1995 at least had To Deserve You, Bathhouse Betty 1998 has a nice Song of Bernadette, and I Sold My Heart To The Junkman and One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, both classics. Bette 2000 included a decent cover of Kirsty MacColl's In These Shoes and an OK Just My Imagination. 

I forgot to mention Barry Manilow earlier. He was responsible for much/most of Bette's first two records. He was her pianist in her early days, and his work with Midler is his finest contribution to recorded music. Both Bette Midler Sings The Rosemary Clooney Songbook 2003 and Bette Midler Sings The Peggy Lee Songbook 2005 benefit from Manilow's production and arrangement work. Both are solid tributes, and Midler sounds good fronting a big band. 

Cool Yule 2006 is a Christmas record. As those things go, it's fine. 

But then in 2014 Bette released It's The Girls!.  A remarkable record that hearkens back to her earliest work in a super good way. It's all girl groups, but not just from the sixties. There''s Teach Me Tonight (from 1956) and Waterfalls (from 1995) and plenty of sixties in between. It is just about as perfect a record as we could expect from Bette Midler in 2014.

There's a bunch of compilations out there, and surprisingly, they don't all cover the same ground. For a good overview and all the essentials, Experience The Divine: Greatest Hits 1993 is the one, and the single disc Jackpot! The Best of Bette 2008 comes close, but omits a few choice moments. The more recent Memories of You 2010 (standards) and A Gift of Love 2015 (ballads) are more narrowly focused and not really hits collections. 

The first two and It's The Girls! are her best records, and Experience The Divine captures pretty much all the career highlights, including her wonderful One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) that she serenaded Johnny Carson with on his last show.

The Weeklings Raspberry Park 2024, Fantastic Cat Now That's What I Call Fantastic Cat 2024

The Weeklings have paid tribute to the Beatles, but they are so much more than that. Not that they aren't great at it. The band are all veteran musicians with deep and varied backgrounds. This new one finds them doing eight new originals as well as The Beatles' I've Just Seen A Face and She's Leaving Home, Bruce Springsteen's I'm On Fire, and a mash-up of The Buffalo Springfields' Mr. Soul and Satisfaction featuring guest vocalist Peter Noone. The record is non-stop energetic fun. If you love melodic, hook-filled pop/rock, you can't go wrong.

Something of a supergroup with four singer-songwriters hailing from other indie groups, these guys bring the songs, the hooks, the harmonies, and tight musicianship to drive a fine power-pop vehicle. Mixed with some folky Americana touches (but not too much), the record keeps coming with great stuff. Toe tapping will ensue, and the songs are both hook-filled and lyrically smart. If you love melodic, hook-filled pop/rock, you can't go wrong.

Check them both out. Available streaming, YouTube, or of course you can also purchase on CD or vinyl. 

John Mellencamp

I recently finished reading the 2021 biography Mellencamp by Paul Rees. It is a well-written look at the artist's life, and while it shows Mellencamp to be a significantly flawed personality, it also treats his music as on par with the greatest songwriters of our generation. 

That's certainly not how the story started. Mellencamp's first two recordings, Chestnut Street Incident 1976 and The Kid Inside 1977 were both inferior efforts. The Kid Inside was rejected by his record company and not released until 1983 after he'd had a few successful singles under his belt. His second release, A Biography 1978 was only sold in the UK and Australia, where I Need A Lover became a top ten hit. So I Need A Lover was included on his second American record, John Cougar 1979, and was a minor hit in the US. Then came Nothing Matters And What If It Did 1980, which included two quality top thirty singles in Ain't Even Done With The Night and This Time. The record received a luke warm response in the press, but the singles were enough to keep Mellencamp going, and in 1982 he had his first #1 hit record with American Fool, which contained the hits Jack And Diane (#1) and Hurts So Good (#2), and several other good ones, Hand To Hold On To and Weakest Moments.

Finally in 1983 John Cougar Mellencamp (the first use of his real last name on the cover of a record) made Uh-Huh. The first of several critically acclaimed records, Uh-Huh was also his first solid record the whole way through. The singles are front-loaded on side one with Pink Houses, Crumblin' Down and Authority Song, but the whole record is good. From there he moves on to Scarecrow 1985, another killer and where Mellencamp begins to write political songs of the American heartland. Rain On The Scarecrow was an impassioned plea for the American family farm, and became his theme song for thirty years of Farm Aid concerts with Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan. Four singles charted. 

The Lonesome Jubilee 1987 followed, and became one of his most successful records. The record is still rock, but contains country/folk/Americana influences and features violin and accordion to good effect for the first time. Heartland vignettes and more tales of rural America, not to mention another trio of hot singles including the fine Cherry Bomb, make for a very strong outing. Big Daddy 1989 continues in a similar vein, but is a bit darker owing to Mellencamp's second divorce. The singles didn't fare all that well, but the record continued Mellencamp's sales success.

After two Americana styled successes, Mellencamp eschewed the violin and accordion and returned with a back to basics rocking record, 1991's Whenever We Wanted. It's the hardest rocking record of his career, and it's a winner. Get A Leg Up, Now More Than Ever and Again Tonight all cracked the top 5, and the record was top 20 and went platinum. More importantly, it rocks like crazy from start to finish with all killer, no filler material. It is the debut of David Grissom with the band, and his big guitar sound beefs up the record considerably.

Both Human Wheels 1993 and Dance Naked 1994 were well received and included strong singles. Mellencamp sounds a little like he's coasting, but the records are both good. What If I Came Knocking from Human Wheels was his last #1 single. Then in 1996 comes Mr. Happy Go Lucky, and for the first time in a while, it receives mixed-to-negative reviews. With only one top 40 single (his last), and some weaker tracks, it portends Mellencamp's becoming something other than the big rock star filling stadiums. John Mellencamp 1998 goes a long way towards the same end. While Your Life Is Now and I'm Not Running Anymore are strong, the album as a whole is less satisfying. Reviews were better than the previous record, but they weren't stellar. Rough Harvest 1999 contains acoustic versions of some of Mellencamp's back catalog favorites recorded in 1997. It's a contract obligation record, and saw generally middling reviews.

Cuttin' Heads 2001 was well received and again showed Mellencamp mixing some rock with the folky sound that soon would dominate his work. It's got some good ones and some strong political statements. Trouble No More 2003 is a covers record of mostly blues and folk songs. Spare acoustic arrangements feature Mellencamp's voice to good effect, and the song selection is pretty good, at least if you like old country/folk music. 

Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits 2004 is one of the finest "best of" collections anywhere. For 25 years Mellencamp made a mess of great singles, and they are all here, along with two new songs that hold up to the hits just fine. If you're a casual fan, this is all you need. It is nearly flawless, and well curated and sequenced. 

Freedom's Road 2007 is the last sort-of rocking record he will make until 2023. It's a strong outing with a rootsy sound that reminds one of The Lonesome Jubilee. A bunch of good songs, lots of politics and social commentary, and the vocal backing of Little Big Town all add up to a late career winner. The next two, Life, Death, Love and Freedom 2008 and No Better Than This 2010 were both produced by T Bone Burnett, and both were well received in the press. Mellencamp once said that Life, Death, Love and Freedom "is as good as just about any record ever made." It's not, but it's OK. I'm never wild about Burnett's production jobs. No Better Than This was recorded in historic places such as Sun Studios and the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia and released to critical acclaim that baffles me no end. I've never been much of a lo-fi fan.

In 2010 On the Rural Route 7609 was released. It's an unusual four CD deep dive that mostly avoids the hits for songs Mellencamp feels might have been neglected, along with a few demos and acoustic works in progress. It's really for die hard fans.

From 2014 to 2022 Mellencamp released Plain Spoken 2014, Sad Clowns and Hillbillies featuring Carlene Carter 2017, Other People's Stuff 2018 (a compilation of mostly folky recent cover songs), and Strictly A One-Eyed Jack 2022. All of these records are rooted in folk/country/acoustic sounds with Mellencamp's ragged vocals. Springsteen duets on three on Strictly A One-Eyed Jack. The critics liked most of them, and I suppose you've got to respect the artist that remakes himself into something different instead of trying too hard to be his younger self. 

And finally there's Orpheus Descending 2023. Yes, it's still Americana, but it has more kick than his other recent work. It's lyrically dense and Mellencamp's voice is almost shot, but it is a strong return to form, almost as good as The Lonesome Jubilee, and a late career high water mark.

What does one need from this expansive catalog? Words and Music is great, and probably all that most people really need. The Lonesome Jubilee is very good, and Whenever We Wanted is as good a rocker as anything ever. More recently Freedom's Road and Orpheus Descending are worth hearing. 

There's a great quote in the book from Mellencamp himself. "I know why people don't buy my new albums. It's the same reason I don't buy the new Rolling Stones albums. I've got the good ones already."

Greg Kihn 1949-2024

Greg Kihn was a underrated power pop star that came very close to the big time, and made a whole bunch of excellent music. The Greg Kihn Band albums all contain solid songs and at least one killer single. Between 1976 and 1986 he released 11 fine records, and released his 18th record, Rekihndled, in 2017.

Between 1996 and 2012 he was a San Francisco area disc jockey. He also wrote four horror novels and several other books. 

He continued to perform live until 2019. He had chart hits with the #2 Jeopardy, The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em), and Lucky. All of his records are worth hearing, but his early work really shines. He produced one perfect record, his sophomore effort from 1977, Greg Kihn Again. With covers of Buddy Holly (Love's Made A Fool Of You), Bruce Springsteen (For You), and Kihn's own Real Big Man, Politics, If You Be My Love, and the wonderful Madison Avenue, the record is a pure pop gem. His work is available for streaming, and there's a few YouTube videos. Kihnsolidation 1989 or the even better Greg Kihn Band: The Best of Beserkley '75-'84 2012 are fine compilations of his early work.

Updated Stereo System Again

So the stereo has been updated some since my last update in 2017. The Cambridge Audio Azur 840C got repaired and I decided to sell it while it was working and the Wadia 170i and iPod Classic, which was having some technical issues, left to make way for streaming. So here's what we've got now:

Reference 3A MM de Capo-i speakers 

Granite Audio Aspen 800 power amplifier 

Benchmark DAC3 HGC

Funk Firm Little Super Deck turntable

Hana SL Moving Coil Cartridge 

Vacuum Tube Audio PH-16 phono preamplifier 

Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport 

Bluesound Node streamer

Qobuz streaming service

SVS SB-12 NSD subwoofer 

So the Audiolab CD Transport (no DAC) replaced the CD function of the Cambridge CD player, the Benchmark DAC3 HGC replaced the DAC from the Cambridge and also the Anthem preamp. The Bluesound Node is a streamer/DAC but I am taking the digital out of the Bluesound and letting the Benchmark DAC do the D to A conversion. The Hana cartridge replaced the Denon 103R but of course the Denon is still around and may return sometime. I hired an electrician to run an ethernet cable from my router to the Bluesound node to avoid the issues of using wifi for streaming high resolution audio.

The Benchmark DAC/preamp is renowned to have very low distortion numbers, and the DAC sounds great, and maybe better than Cambridge did. I must admit that I sometimes miss the Anthem Pre2L preamp with it's lovely tube sound, but I still get that with vinyl through the VTA phono preamp.

Streaming has been an interesting experience. Getting a chance to hear new releases without purchasing them is very nice. There is of course a ton of music available, but certainly not everything.  Artists that recorded for several different labels may not have their entire catalog on Qobuz. And various artists recordings (tribute records, sets of music from a certain era) are rare, since those songs/artists were only licensed for that particular release before streaming started, and usually the artists were under contract to a variety of labels. But often there are user-generated playlists that can serve a similar function. You can certainly get lost in the available material. And sometimes a record you like will disappear from the steaming service altogether. Kind of like when a friend borrowed your LP and never gave it back. I feel so modern.

Dr. Dog Dr. Dog 2024

After only some 15 releases over the last 22 years, Dr. Dog release an eponymous record. And it is a good one.

There are some artists that make one record that stands out from, and above, the rest of their work. Del Amitri's Some Other Sucker's Parade, The Connells Still Life, The Proclaimers Persevere, they all fall into that category for me. And so does Dr. Dog's Shame, Shame. The follow-up, Be The Void comes awfully close, but can't knock Shame, Shame out of the top slot. I've enjoyed much of their other work, including B-Room and Abandoned Mansion. Their early records are a bit too lo-fi for my tastes, but many of the songs are very good, and there are always moments of brilliance. 

This one is one of the better ones, and while it might be an unfair comparison, it's not quite Shame, Shame.

The record features more mid-tempo and slow songs than usual, but they are mostly good ones. Lost Ones slowly builds to a loud mess, What A Night'll Do is a slow piano-heavy ballad that features a nice synth break, and Still Can't Believe is a pretty ballad. Fine White Lies is a slow builder that is reminiscent of Bowie's Five Years as it gradually becomes more dynamic. 

The noisy, stomping rocker Authority starts things off well. The funky beat and pretty melody of Talk Is Cheap rocks. White Dove has a fine guitar break, and the upbeat closer Love Struck has a catchy chorus, nice percussion, and what sounds like a pedal steel guitar. 

A few of their more recent ones (The Psychedelic Swamp, Critical Equation) have disappointed me a bit, so I was happy to hear them return to form with a solid outing. As usual, the drumming of Eric Slick is killer.

Paul McCartney Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes) 2024, One Hand Clapping 2024

I have an ongoing love/indifference relation ship with Paul McCartney. I think some of his songs are great, and I think much of his music is just OK.

Let me make one thing clear. I'm no Paul denier. First and foremost, if he never wrote a song or played some amazing bass part, he's still worthy of great fame just for his singing. He's a really great singer, right there with, well, anybody. As a bass player he is unique. He played bass with the Beatles like it was another lead instrument, not just foundational. Sure, others have done the same, but there are some McCartney bass lines that it seems no one but he could create. Drive My Car comes to mind, but there are tons of them.

Then there's songwriting, and Paul is a gifted songwriter that leans a bit too far toward the sentimental sometimes. I often think that if he had produced one record every six or seven years, they could have included only his best songs, and every one of them would be untouchable. Of course he'd need a producer to cut the wheat from the chaff, as it were. But if he had done so, his work and reputation would be different from what we have. I haven't listened to some of his records more than once, but again, there's always something there that's darn good. 

We don't need to compare him to Lennon, and as circumstances will have it, that's not very fair. But for all of  Paul's lesser output, there's Some Time In New York City, the most god-awful dreck released by any ex-Beatle. So Paul made some mistakes along the way. And he made some gems. One of those gems would be Band On The Run, regarded by many as the pinnacle of Paul's solo work. I know there are other opinions, but face it, it's in the top three no matter how you cut it.

And that brings us to the recent Paul McCartney releases, both associated with Band On The Run. The first is Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes). As fantastic as Band On The Run is, it may be even better stripped of some of it's, well, production. This is a fun listen, and if you love Band On The Run, you should get to hear it. It reveals a lot about the record in some fun and exciting ways, and it strips the veneer off of a record that apparently didn't require it. It is only available in a 2 CD or 2 LP deluxe Band On The Run, or streaming.

Then there is One Hand Clapping. Basically the soundtrack to a "Let It Be" style video of the band, made shortly after the release of Band On The Run, in studio. The recordings are of McCartney and crew playing recent Wings songs, Beatles hits, oldies, and odd covers. The set is just killer. If anybody thought that Wings were not an actual band, and just Paul's boys, this should set the record straight. There are some twee moments, but not many, and there's a lot of rocking. The recording is very good, clear and clean. Like a live recording without an audience. In fact it sounds like a tour rehearsal much of the time, and that's good.

Chaos and Creation in the Backyard may his his strongest recent work, but these gems from the golden days of Wings are great bonbons for his fans.

Fanny Live on Beat-Club '71-'72 2024

Fanny was the first all female rock and roll band to produce a major label LP, writing most of their songs and playing all of the instruments. Before Bangles, Runaways, Vixen, Go-Go's, and everybody else. They released five records between 1970-1974, and while those records aren't perfect, they are darn good, especially Charity Ball 1971, Fanny Hill 1972 and Mother's Pride 1973.

While never chart toppers, they had a few charting singles. The real surprise was what a great live band they were. June Millington was a hot lead guitarist, Nicki Barclay was an outstanding rock keyboard player, and June Millington (bass) and Alice de Buhr (drums) laid down a solid foundation. They could all sing. I didn't know they existed until I saw them live (twice) in Cleveland, and I was blown away. They were better live than any of their records.

Beat-Club was the premier German rock and roll TV show, and featured live music by a who's who list of artists of the day. It is a pretty good recording, and shows just how good they were live. An excellent addition to their studio records. It's out on CD or vinyl or streaming and much of it can be watched and listened to on YouTube.

 

Don Letts Presents The Mighty Trojan Sound 2024

I know there may not be a ton of reggae fans out there, and especially in the small number of visitors to this blog. But this is a fine way to explore the genre, and if you're a fan generally, this one brings together a bunch of great songs. 

There is no Bob Marley, Third World, Steel Pulse, or Black Uhuru, but there are early songs by the Heptones and the Maytals, and there are many other familiar and unfamiliar names. Importantly, the set is curated by Don Letts, famous as the DJ that brought reggae to the punks of the UK and later formed Big Audio Dynamite with Mick Jones of the Clash. Don knows his stuff and he has an excellent ear. The set is the bomb.

The 2 CD set includes one CD of songs with vocals and one CD of dub-style instrumentals (with occasional vocals). I didn't think I was going to like the Dub CD, but it is almost as killer as the vocal songs.

I can't really go into song by song detail because I'd repeat myself a lot. Reggae is a somewhat self-limiting genre, and it tends to sound "all the same" even though lovers of the genre realize that isn't really true. Sorta.

Anyway, if you love reggae, or if you have liked some reggae in the past, this set is hard not to love. If you have most of these songs, you've got one amazing collection. But even then you probably don't have all this stuff. It reminds me of the Dave Godin series of soul music in that there's a ton a great songs, and I don't think I've heard more than two or three of them.

Trust me. Or go stream it. If you don't love it, then I guess you don't love reggae (which, of course, is OK too).

The Lemon Twigs A Dream Is All We Know 2024

Power Pop. It has lots of definitions, and lots of examples, some of which I don't always agree should be included in the category/genre. But these guys are Power Pop by just about any definition you can come up with. And they're darn good to boot.

And they're young, two Long Island brothers that write and play fun-filled pop/rock that sounds like the era from the British Invasion to New Wave. They benefit greatly from those wonderful brotherly harmonies that seem to come so easily to people with similar vocal cord DNA. You know, Everly Brothers, Cowsills, Proclaimers, etc. 

And they write catchy, sometimes quirky pop songs that sound just like... In fact, that game can be played, but it's really better to just bob your head or dance around and enjoy a smart band that's fun. The ones that sound like the Beach Boys are the most obvious references, but these guys have been raised on all the best pop-rock music from 1964-1977, and they have taken it all in and made something that's new, and old.

The high energy opener, My Golden Years could be the Searchers. They Don't Know How To Fall In Place is solid pop with glowing harmonies and a nice keyboard solo. The title track is a jangle pop gem with a great hook for a chorus. I Should Have Known Right From The Start is good, and Rock On that closes the record is a great pounding rocker that comes close to a Raspberries hit.

The Beach Boys sound shows up in In The Eyes Of The Girl, which sounds like Brian wrote it, but  Ember Days and Sweet Vibration are only OK, except for the harmonies, which are lovely. A couple of the other ones have an awkward lyrical way with too many syllables for the melody, but that doesn't really ruin them.

They've made five other records since 2015. I hope they're close to this good. That would be a gas.

St. Vincent All Born Screaming 2024

I want to like this record, really I do. I have enjoyed all of her previous work, although she pushes the envelope more than most artists I enjoy. Her fourth, the remarkable St. Vincent 2014 and the follow-up, Massseduction 2017 showed an artist that had matured into a serious force. Then Daddy's Home 2021 leaned just a little more accessible, and while it was good to see a different side of her, it wasn't quite the tour de force of the previous two.

This time out she produces the record herself, and it's hard to think that Jack Antonoff or John Congleton would have done a better job. It has a consistent sound, and lyrical depth, and it rocks hard. 

The opener, Hell Is Near, is a slow, pulsing, spacey, ethereal opening with big synthesizers. Reckless is spare, sparse, and slow until the industrial ending comes crashing down. Broken Man is an almost Gaga-like pop song with loud synth and guitar bursts that are an aural assault. The obsessive (creepy?) love song Flea is another good rocker, and again, is instrumentally brutal at times. Then the electronica/dance pop of Big Time Nothing shows off her ability with a melody. Violent Times has a synth-driven James Bond theme song sound. 

The armageddon of The Power's Out is another synth and guitar industrial rocker. Sweetest Fruit has a quality guitar break. So Many Planets has a strong melody and a choral chorus that is excellent. Then the record closes with the title track, a light pop, almost Tom Tom Club opening that morphs into a huge noisy chorus on the way out.

Like all of her work, it is challenging. She can turn a great lyrical phrase. She has a way with melody that is impressive even when she's making big loud noises. She is a hot guitarist even when she makes it sound like anything but a guitar. She plays a mean synth, and she can sing. And she produced a cohesive personal statement. But for me, it veers too close to a NIN industrial sound a bit too often. I'm sure it is what she intended, but I've got to go four stars instead of five. Your mileage may vary.

Stackridge The Man In The Bowler Hat (Pinifore Days in the US) 1974

Question: What do you get when you crossbreed Fairport Convention with early Yes and a little Genesis? Answer: Stackridge.

Stackridge released five records between 1971 and 1976. Prog mixed with British folk-rock sounds well nigh impossible, but that is what they sound like. The Man In The Bowler Hat was their third. You can hear much of it on YouTube, and there are streaming options as well as lots of CDs and LPs at Discogs.

The band sported an unusual line-up of guitar, bass, drums, flute and violin. And they still sound like a rock band, and one of the more unique ones you're likely to hear. They cited both the Beatles and Frank Zappa as influences, as well as Syd Barrett, Beach Boys and the Marx Brothers. And it all gets into the mix.

I think you'll find them to sound quite like nothing you've ever heard, and mostly in a good way.

David Wilcox Guitar Shopping from What You Whispered 2000

David Wilcox is a more folky artist than I am usually drawn to, but his guitar playing, his mellow voice, and especially his songwriting really shine. He has a way with words that is impressive: sometimes playful, sometimes romantic, frequently insightful, always well-constructed. In his younger days he wrote about vehicles quite a bit. This one's available for streaming, and there's a YouTube of it, so you can follow along if you'd like. 

Guitar Shopping

There's a guitar here in the window
I'd like to play before it's sold.
It's such a classic, mint condition,
Great shape for one this old.
Now all these axes have their stories,
Of the gigs that they have seen
But when this one sold the first time
I was seventeen.

'Course back then I didn't want it
It was way too new for me.
I needed something old and righteous
With its own authority.

So the first guitar I ever bought
Was twice as old as me
'Cause its life was full of music,
As I dreamed that mine might be.

And I played that thing a thousand nights
And traded it away
For something slightly newer
That was easier to play.

But now lately I buy new guitars
They're shiny as a hearse.
I still like the look of road wear,
But the roles have been reversed.
And now this thing is a classic
That I still don't need to buy.
Yeah, the old one's have their stories
But by now,
So do I.

Kelly Willis, Melissa Carper, Brennen Leigh Wonder Women of Country 2024

Three talented country singers, songwriters, and musicians team up to capitalize on their combined talents. And it came out really well. The EP has six songs, including two Kelly Willis lead vocals on songs she wrote, several co-writes by Carper and Leigh, and one John Prine song.

They can all sing, and they harmonize wonderfully. Brennen Leigh is a hot guitarist and Melissa Carper is solid on upright bass. Kelly Willis plays fine rhythm guitar. And they write good songs. I'm a big fan of Kelly Willis myself, but all three have successful solo careers and sound great. Leigh's Fly Ya To Hawaii is big fun, Willis' Another Broken Heart and A Thousand Ways stand with her best work, and Carper's Won't Be Worried Long is a lovely classic country weeper with a positive spin. John Prine's I Have Met My Love Today gets a spare production and beautiful harmonies.

They're touring the midwest, south and even Massachusetts this spring. I know you'll have a good time. CD, vinyl and downloads available.

Lance Cowen So Far, So Good 2024

Every once in a while, an artist arrives fully formed with a perfect debut. This is Lance Cowen.

Cowen has worked for years as a successful and respected Nashville publicist for a wide range of artists and songwriters. He's also written songs on his own and with writing partners, some of which have been recorded by others. And now, in his sixties, we get his first record.

And it is just beautiful. Cowen has a high tenor reminiscent of John Denver (without the treacle) and he is surrounded by a crew of great musicians: Sam Bush (mandolin), Pat Flynn and Mark Elliot (guitars), Andrea Zonn (violin), Pat McInerney (drums), Dave Pomeroy and Jay Turner (bass), Dan Dugmore (pedal steel, dobro, piano), Jim Hoke (accordion) and Julie Lee (vocals). No less than six seasoned producers would seem unlikely to produce a record with a unified sound, but that is exactly what we get.

The sound of the record recalls the late Guy Clark's records. Acoustic instruments, deceptively spare arrangements, clean recording, all with Cowen's expressive voice up front that makes these gems seem like the band is playing live in your living room.

And then there's the songs. Cowen combines the wit and insight of Guy Clark and John Prine, the ability to capture the emotional core like Jackson Browne, and the portraiture of a fine painter. The portraits are some of the highlights. Little Johnny Pierce captures a sixties peace lover that lawnmowers a peace sign into the front yard, Currently Red is a sweetly sentimental biography of a quirky journalist, and Mr. Ben McGhee follows a charming older man into his last chapter.

A trainman more at home on the tracks than anywhere else features in Sound Of My Home. A sweetly kind and humorous portrait of a hoarder is A Place For Everything. So Far, So Good sounds like an autobiography of the solo artist on the road.

And then he writes some beautiful songs of love, heartbreak, and loss. This Heart Of Mine is a perfect song of heartache, and For You is a sweet ballad that is just breathtaking and includes a reference to "the shade of the family tree" that only a great lyricist could write. The Letter (sung by Julie Lee in a fabulous cameo) is a sad lament for a fading long distance relationship.

Finally, Fields Of Freedom is one of the most poignant songs of war I have ever heard. The chorus goes like this: She said “Freedom I feel, It’s the flowers in the field, That no one marches over. Here in the sunlight of a German afternoon, I found a field of flowers in full bloom”.

Sam Bush and Dan Dugmore add color and beauty to everything they touch. They are clearly inspired by Cowen's melodies, which sometimes sound familiar (but not stolen), like a old worn coat. 

Every once in a while, an artist arrives fully formed with a perfect debut.

The Raspberries Pop Art Raspberries Live 2017

 

The Raspberries. Four solid records from 1972-1974, one great "Best Of" in 1976, not long after they called it quits. Over the years they gained respect and admiration as one of the original purveyors of the Power Pop genre, along with Big Star, Badfinger, and a few others. 

Eric Carmen went on to a successful, albeit schmaltzy, solo career, and had hits with All By Myself and several big movie soundtrack songs.

And then, thirty years after the break-up, they reformed in 2004 and continued for a brief tour in 2005. Live On Sunset Strip from 2007 documents that tour's Los Angeles shows, and was released as a single CD with 13 tracks as well as a 21 track 2 CD plus DVD version. It's a solid show, and if you have it, you might not need Pop Art. It's the same tour.

The first night of the reunion was in November 2004 at the opening of the House of Blues Cleveland, and it is that show in front of a rabid hometown crowd that Pop Art documents. Available as a 2 CD, 28 track version and a 3 LP, 30 track (Record Store Day) version that includes two encores, it holds some material not captured at the Sunset Strip shows. There's two songs from the pre-Raspberries band The Choir, including regional hit It's Cold Outside. There's also three well-chosen Beatles covers: Baby's In Black, Ticket To Ride, and No Reply. Of course all the hits are here, but the show also reminds you how many good album tracks filled out their records.

The band is super tight, and augmented by three guitarists/keyboardists/singers, they can do it all to perfection. Eric Carmen and Wally Bryson are in good voice, and the harmonies are spot on. Special mention to Jim Bonfanti, a killer drummer that lights up the set. The recording is good, and there's not too much crowd noise. I'm not a huge fan of band reunions, and many times they can be downright embarrassing, but not this one. They were always an excellent live band, and three decades after their heyday, they were still on top of their game.

Peter Gabriel i/o

After just 31 years, Peter Gabriel issues his follow-up to Up. Not surprisingly, it sounds like the next Peter Gabriel record. If you're a fan, you'll want to hear it.

The songs are generally good, if a little longer than necessary sometimes. Gabriel's voice sounds great. The same excellent musicians he's used in the past are back. There is lyrical depth.The arrangements are interesting. The record is over an hour long and it drags a bit near the end, but that won't matter to most listeners.

I'm not a big fan, but I've liked a lot of his songs in the past. He does this weird thing of delivering the record in two different mixes, a Bright mix and a Dark mix, which don't really sound different enough to merit releasing them both. Given the 31 years it took to make the record, maybe Gabriel just couldn't pick one mix. I recently listened to Paul McCartney's "under-dubbed" release of Band on the Run. Now there's a different mix that is really worth a listen.

The most surprising thing about i/o is that it sounds like the next Peter Gabriel record that would have come out around 2006 if he's stayed on track. And that should come as good news to his fans.

David Bowie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars 1972

It is a classic. 

The record kicks off with Five Years, the news that the world only has that much time left, and the ensuing melee that the news brings. Bowie speaks/sings the lyrics at first, and the vocal dynamic increases as the song builds. Great opener. Soul Love follows, and is another solid winner with a Bowie sax solo and a hot lead guitar from Mick Ronson. "Love is careless in it's choosing" indeed. After two mid-tempo entries, Moonage Daydream comes rushing out of the speakers, with big guitars and more sax. Alien sex never sounded hotter. Starman presents a hopeful image of the future and a visit from an alien that "knows it's all worthwhile". And lest we forget, "let the children boogie". The solid rock of It Ain't Easy continues the lyrical quest for redemption, and is more big, solid rock. 

The big balled Lady Stardust kicks off side two, and is said to be about Marc Bolan (or maybe Bowie/Ziggy), and Bowie's vocal and the lyrics are striking. Star follows, making a case for becoming a rock'n'roll star, and maintains the overall theme of the record.The uber-glam of Hang On To Yourself is a fast, sexy groupie come-on that "moves like tigers on Vaseline". Then Ziggy Stardust plays as the hero's biography built on a great guitar riff, and compares Ziggy to any number of messiahs, only this one plays guitar left hand and "took it all too far". Suffragette City brings more great guitar riffs from Ronson, sexual lyrics that are both direct and vague, and rocks like crazy. It sounds like a precursor to Rebel Rebel, and contains similarly indefinite sexuality references. The record ends with the big arena ballad Rock'n'Roll Suicide, a fitting coda which places Ziggy in the company of dead rock stars of the day while using a Baudelaire metaphor of life as a cigarette.

It still holds up today. It is arguably one of Bowie's most consistently strong outings both writing and performance. It is the pinnacle of much great work from Mick Ronson. The record is of it's time, but it is also timeless. There probably wouldn't be a glam rock category without this record.

Five stars all the way. Along with Hunky Dory, Young Americans, Station To Station, Low, and Blackstar, it is among his best, and maybe even tops the list.

The Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds 2023

I know, it's been out for three months. But I couldn't bring myself to buy it until I heard it, and it took me a while to get my hands on one. I have been disappointed by the Stones any number of times in the past even when the "new" record received favorable press. In fact, most of the time since 1973 I've felt they just weren't making great, or even particularly good, records. I did a career overview not long ago, and as I said then, only Some Girls, Steel Wheels, and Stripped have lived up to their 60s legacy. Don't get me wrong, I think the Stones are a great band, and the records they made between 1964 and 1972 (except Satanic Magesties Request) can stand up to anyone's recorded output, but for almost 50 years they have mostly made less than stellar studio records. 

I can confirm what you have doubtlessly already read about the record. It's good. It's really very surprisingly good. It is hard to compare this one to the classics because it is clearly a modern product, recorded with a slick, clean 21st century sound. 

Several times I have discussed what it takes for a band to get it done. In my opinion, the must-have ingredients are a good singer, a solid drummer, and good songs. And by that standard, this new Stones record easily makes the grade. Mick Jagger is a better singer on this record than I have considered him to be in many moons. He's remarkably invested in being Mick Jagger again. Steve Jordan is a killer drummer, and Charlie comes back to life on two songs, so the drum thing is covered. It's that third ingredient that makes all the difference. These are better songs than Kieth and Mick have managed in a very long time. And they might not be as good as the songs on one of those 68-72 classics, but they get frighteningly close. And they still have two killer guitar players.

There's a bunch of celebrity cameos. It's pretty cool that McCartney plays fuzz bass on Bite My Head Off, but both Stevie Wonder and Elton John add nothing, and Lady Gaga's wailing on Sweet Sounds Of Heaven will have you yearning for Clare Torry. 

None of that matters. The songs are good. Almost all of them. The guitars sound like the Stones, and Mick does a shockingly good angry snotty punk better than any eighty year old should. Did I mention that the songs are good? Angry is a great opener, and Get Close, Bite My Head Off, Whole Wide World and Driving Me Too Hard all rock hard. The ballads Dreamy Skies and Keith's outstanding Tell Me Straight keep the quality up, and Sweet Sounds of Heaven sounds good today. It might not age that well. That's OK.

The Rolling Stones at 80. They up and made a solid record. Go figure.