The year’s sure off to a heck of a start, eh? COVID’s safely in our rear-view mirror and the news has gone back to being as exciting as Mayberry on a Sunday morning. What’s that? We just logged our 13th consecutive time adding 1M COVID cases in less than a week? And in that same amount of time we saw three things that hadn’t happened in at least 200 years, if ever — the storming of the capital, a second impeachment, and a fortification of DC that includes more troops than there are residents in the area they’re protecting? (And four times as many as are currently in Iraq and Afghanistan?) Well I’m sure glad we left all the aggravations and anxiety back in 2020!
As they rapidly turn my neighborhood into a medieval walled city, thought I’d hustle in with some songs before the fences go up across my living room, too. The last few months of last year had some releases from artists I’ve enjoyed and/or written about in the past, but whose consistency has wavered lately, preventing me from fully endorsing them. There still are some solid tracks on them, though, so in the spirit of the lockdown and the need to celebrate bright spots each and every time they show their scaredy-cat faces, here’s some highlights from them.
First is the latest from country behemoth Chris Stapleton who might seem a strange inclusion here as my indifference if not disdain for modern country is well-known (at least to the eight of you reading this). And while there’s definitely a few too many chest-thumping, good ole boy “MURRICA!” moments in here, there’s a handful of really good songs, too, to keep you torn. Does Stapleton, like most modern country singers, have a formula? For sure. (I joked at work the recording sessions had to have closed with a conversation along the lines of, “Lemme see — do I have a song about brown water? Check! What about the devil? CHECK! Anything about being country or a redneck? Check! A city or state? DOUBLE CHECK! OMG guys, this album is gonna be huge!”)
When he strays a little from this and leaves the faux aggression aside, though, is when it’s most interesting. The slower songs work well (“You Should Probably Leave,” “Nashville, TN”), there’s a cover of a lesser-known John Fogerty track that’s solid (“Joy of my Life”), and former Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench show up on most of the album’s songs, adding their characteristic flourishes to the material. (Campbell even co-wrote a pair of tracks, “Watch You Burn” and the ripping should be state anthem “Arkansas.”) There’s even a song about his dog that makes me tear up damn near every time. These end up being enough to balance out the other eye rollers — none moreso than the title track, which is so good even Obama endorsed it. See what Presidentially-sponsored singing sounds like here:
We’ll jump genres and head over to the electrosphere next, a place I used to spend a lot more time before old age, early nights, and a general decline in the music’s quality and creativity drove me away. (Honestly — if I hear one more Skrillex-inspired soundtrack of machines intermittently screaming over the same beat, I might lose it.) Before the fall, MSTRKRFT were one of my frequent listens, as half of the duo belonged to beloved Death From Above 1979 (plus they made some banging tracks in their own right, too.)
They started going in a more aimless, house-driven direction in recent years in lieu of the thunderous hooks of their earlier albums and their last one, 2016’s Operator, only had a couple tracks that caught my ear. (“Priceless,” “Party Line”) Their latest EP, Black Gloves, is more of the same, but this track is a throwback winner. Driving beat, infectious lyric, all but guaranteed to make you move — check out “Alexyss” and crank it up:
We’ll jump genres one more time and head over to the third perpetually disappointing modern genre, rap. All three of the genres represented thus far are years past their golden age (country’s I’d argue was the late 60s/early 70s, electro the late 90s/early 00s, and rap ruled the late 80s and most of the 90s), but none might be more disappointing to me than rap. What used to sport some of the most relentlessly creative artists and lyricists has now devolved into a monolithic mush of materialistic lyrics and weak beats. As always, there are exceptions, but they’re further and further from the rule these days and even they increasingly fall victim to the rampant shoddiness.
Case in point is Aesop Rock whose efforts with Rob Sonic as Hail Mary Mallon have yielded two excellent albums to date. (2011’s Are You Gonna Eat That? and 2014’s Bestiary.) Unfortunately his solo outings have always been plagued by inconsistencies and his latest is no different. (To be fair, Rob’s last album was a bit disappointing, too — the virus is everywhere!) A sprawling, double digit outing, there are a handful of winners across its 21 tracks — “The Gates,” “Button Masher,” and “Holy Waterfall” all sizzle, but the album’s closer is the absolute winner. Big beat, solid hook, and breathless verses rattled off effortlessly in Aes’ singular baritone — check out “The Four Winds” here:
We’ll leave the world of intermittent letdowns and dive into the world of the unknown (without expectation there can be no disappointment!) with a few new discoveries that caught my ear. Each comes from the rap world, though from slightly different sectors. First up is a track from LA-based clipping., which hails from the subsection apparently known as horrorcore — basically songs about death, dying, blood, murder, etc etc etc with abrasive, dissonant beats. You know, the usual stuff you turn to after a hard day at the office and putting the kids to bed.
Both the genre as a whole and their albums tend to blur together after a bit, but some of the beats and verses are solid in small doses. Vocalist Daveed Diggs (who apparently used to be on Broadway in Hamilton!) has a rapid fire cadence that calls to mind Andre of Outkast fame at times and the production from co-conspirators Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson have similar bite. Interesting but not enrapturing, they’re still worth a listen — check out “Say the Name” here:
Next comes another from the LA scene, this time from soloist Busdriver, who’s worked with everyone from Danger Mouse and Danny Brown to Deerhoof and the aforementioned Aesop Rock. He’s got a similarly manic, machine gun delivery to Diggs — almost Twista-esque at times — but he slows it down on this one when pairing with Anderson.Paak (another member of the hit or miss parade). All laid back groove and sunshine haze, this one’s an easy winner — check out “Worlds to Run” from 2015’s Thumbs:
We’ll close with a pair of songs from the other side of the pond, twin tracks from the UK on the more soulful side of the spectrum. First up is a song from the Nottingham duo Young T & Bugsey who apparently hit it big over there last year with the song “Strike a Pose” (a forgettable track other than for the line “Drinking on a Duck Duck Goose y’know,” which got me to look up WTF that was). This one’s a little more meaty — solid beat and decent verses, give “Don’t Rush” a ride here:
Last up comes a song from London’s Bakar whose song keeps showing up in these NFL Shop commercials during football games. I’d heard it a few months ago courtesy of Co-worker Andrew and promptly forgotten about it thanks to my oatmeal lockdown brain. The onslaught of NFL commercials (approximately 374 for every game, minimum) got it firmly lodged back in the bowl, though, and I’m glad it did. It’s a bright, easy ride and Bakar has a smooth laid-back delivery that works well. Score one for modern advertising — check out “Hell n Back” here:
Until next time, amici — stay safe, stay separate, and stay sane…
–BS