Another gone by with a tremendous amount of great new music. For the 11th consecutive year, I've created by best of the year playlist which each of those years has had been 100-250 songs by different artists who released music that year. If you'd like to listen to my Best of 2018 Spotify playlist, please check it out. As per usual, I don't repeat songs from the same artist or same album to make sure that my list isn't just comprised of my two or three favorite albums.
30) Nothing - Zero Day
29) Vacationer - Being Here
28) Big Red Machine - Gratitude
27) Bayonne - I Know
26) The Dig - Moonlight Baby
25) Lana Del Rey - Mariners Apartment Complex
24) Twin Shadow - Saturdays (feat. HAIM)
23) SG Lewis - Coming Up
22) Troye Sivan & Jonsi - Revelation
21) Bob Moses - Heaven Only Knows
20) Janelle Monae - Make Me Feel
19) Kendrick Lamar - All The Stars (with SZA)
18) Foxing - Lich Prince
17) Wild Nothing - Letting Go
16) Leon Bridges - Beyond
15) Chance the Rapper - 65th & Ingleside
14) Local H - Innocents
13) boygenius - Souvenir
12) ZHU - My Life (feat. Tame Impala)
11) Mac Miller - Ladders
10) The 1975 - Love It If We Made It
9) Hop Along - How Simple
8) Dawes - Telescope
7) Lord Huron - Ancient Names (Part I)
6) Childish Gambino - This Is America
5) Kimbra - Everybody Knows
4) Vacations - Steady
3) Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - You Worry Me
2) The Decemberists - Once In My Life
1) Mini Mansions - Works Every Time
Friday, December 28, 2018
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Best of 2017: Film
This is not necessarily an indictment on the movies on the list this year as they're all deserving but I'm not sure that in a decade they'll all be looked back on as great movies. I normally have a hard time whittling the list down to 10 and this year I had a hard time stretching it to 10. That said, I very much enjoyed all of the following movies.
10) Dunkirk
Christopher Nolan has been the driving force behind some of the most truly inventive movies of the last twenty years with Memento, The Prestige, Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy. With Dunkirk he succeeded in trying his hand at a film based on historical events. The story based on the evacuation of over 300,000 allied soldiers from Dunkirk, France is told in such a compelling and gripping way that you may find yourself watching with intense focus despite knowing the outcome of the historical event.
9) Wind River
8) Baby Driver
7) Thor: Ragnarok
6) Blade Runner 2049
To me, film is first and foremost a visual medium. Director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins accomplished an absolutely stunning feat with Blade Runner 2049. They managed to maintain the visual style of the original Blade Runner from 1982 but expand the visual palate and the universe. The film moves at a very methodical pace but if you let yourself absorb the imagery it can be a remarkable experience.
5) Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is not a movie without flaws including it's unwieldy title but it is a tremendously well acted and very original film. Writer-director Martin McDonagh first came up with the idea more than 20 years ago when he was on a bus tour of the southern United States when he saw two billboards making a plea for an unsolved crime. What the film does very well is slowly peel back the layers to let the audience know the exact circumstances surrounding the crime and its investigation or lack thereof. Frances McDormand is magnetic as the grieving mother desperately seeking resolution.
4) I, Tonya
Craig Gillespie, the director of I, Tonya, had directed a handful of interesting films in the past but he was known as an award winning director of commercials. Which makes it no surprise that I, Tonya which chronicles the life of disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding moves at a breakneck pace. Gillespie makes no secret that he was influenced by the films of Martin Scorsese, particularly Goodfellas, but it's an homage which feels unique and not like a carbon copy. The entire cast is brilliant in portraying some truly unlikable and vapid characters but maintaining just enough humanity that you stay invested in the outcome.
3) Logan
There's often been an unfair disadvantage to comedies and action films when it comes to being judged for awards and best of the year lists. Logan is most certainly not a comedy though it has comedic elements and I wouldn't classify it as an action film even though it has plenty of very well choreographed action sequences. Logan elevated itself above the comic book movie genre for what was an excellent family allegory and surprising moving film.
2) Lady Bird
This year it was really to choose my number one movie because Lady Bird toggled back and forth as my favorite movie of the year to the point where I almost considered a tie. Lady Bird is such a distinct point of view from a clear voice that it doesn't matter the story is told from the perspective of a young woman in her senior year of high school. There is not one false note in the film which is a semi-autobiographical perspective from writer-director Greta Gerwig who grew up in Sacramento, CA. It's a phenomenal movie with excellent performances from the entire cast.
1) Get Out
Sometimes a film comes along at the exact right moment and becomes a part of the zeitgeist. It's possible that audiences and critics had been waiting years for Get Out and the timing wouldn't have played a huge role but it seemed to me that it came along at the exact right time. Get Out was made for a modest $5 million although it doesn't feel low budget in any way and it went on to make over a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide. First time writer-director Jordan Peele, known primarily for making up one half of the comedy sketch duo Key & Peele, had been a long time horror fan and Get Out was his passion project. Get Out is not your standard horror film as it turns the genre on its head playing very much likely a darkly humorous episode of The Twilight Zone. My description is purposefully vague because if you haven't seen Get Out, you should go in knowing as little as possible and it's one of the more enjoyable films to watch in subsequent viewings than any in recent history.
Honorable mention:
Atomic Blonde
The Big Sick
The Darkest Hour
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The Lego Batman Movie
Logan Lucky
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Split
Wonder Woman
Christopher Nolan has been the driving force behind some of the most truly inventive movies of the last twenty years with Memento, The Prestige, Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy. With Dunkirk he succeeded in trying his hand at a film based on historical events. The story based on the evacuation of over 300,000 allied soldiers from Dunkirk, France is told in such a compelling and gripping way that you may find yourself watching with intense focus despite knowing the outcome of the historical event.
Writer and director Taylor Sheridan announced his arrival by penning the screenplay to Sicario which was directed Denis Villeneuve and one of the very best films of 2015. He followed that up with a screenplay for 2016's Hell or High Water. Sheridan has now shown he's also a capable director as evidenced by Wind River which another one of his films that are being dubbed as neo-western. Wind River is a deliberately paced and beautifully shot thriller that has a climax as good as about any movie from 2017.
Writer-director Edgar Wright had the seeds of the idea for Baby Driver in his head for over a decade and after attaining success with Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, he was able to make it a reality. Baby Driver is a difficult film to describe as it is one cohesive story told with the backdrop of songs played by the protagonist Baby who is a getaway driver. There is tremendous music and fantastic stunt driving.
I was not a big fan of the first film in the Thor franchise despite my affinity for a large portion of the cast and I skipped the sequel Thor: The Dark World because it seemed like more of the same. However, from the moment I saw the trailer for Thor: Ragnarok, I had a feeling that this was going to be different. Director Taika Waititi who one-half of the creative team behind the terrific mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows was at the helm and his unique sense of humor has fingerprints all over the movie including the character Korg who is voiced by Waititi. The action sequences aren't groundbreaking but they're done well and entire movie is about as fun as anything Marvel has done save for maybe Guardians of the Galaxy.
To me, film is first and foremost a visual medium. Director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins accomplished an absolutely stunning feat with Blade Runner 2049. They managed to maintain the visual style of the original Blade Runner from 1982 but expand the visual palate and the universe. The film moves at a very methodical pace but if you let yourself absorb the imagery it can be a remarkable experience.
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is not a movie without flaws including it's unwieldy title but it is a tremendously well acted and very original film. Writer-director Martin McDonagh first came up with the idea more than 20 years ago when he was on a bus tour of the southern United States when he saw two billboards making a plea for an unsolved crime. What the film does very well is slowly peel back the layers to let the audience know the exact circumstances surrounding the crime and its investigation or lack thereof. Frances McDormand is magnetic as the grieving mother desperately seeking resolution.
Craig Gillespie, the director of I, Tonya, had directed a handful of interesting films in the past but he was known as an award winning director of commercials. Which makes it no surprise that I, Tonya which chronicles the life of disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding moves at a breakneck pace. Gillespie makes no secret that he was influenced by the films of Martin Scorsese, particularly Goodfellas, but it's an homage which feels unique and not like a carbon copy. The entire cast is brilliant in portraying some truly unlikable and vapid characters but maintaining just enough humanity that you stay invested in the outcome.
There's often been an unfair disadvantage to comedies and action films when it comes to being judged for awards and best of the year lists. Logan is most certainly not a comedy though it has comedic elements and I wouldn't classify it as an action film even though it has plenty of very well choreographed action sequences. Logan elevated itself above the comic book movie genre for what was an excellent family allegory and surprising moving film.
This year it was really to choose my number one movie because Lady Bird toggled back and forth as my favorite movie of the year to the point where I almost considered a tie. Lady Bird is such a distinct point of view from a clear voice that it doesn't matter the story is told from the perspective of a young woman in her senior year of high school. There is not one false note in the film which is a semi-autobiographical perspective from writer-director Greta Gerwig who grew up in Sacramento, CA. It's a phenomenal movie with excellent performances from the entire cast.
Sometimes a film comes along at the exact right moment and becomes a part of the zeitgeist. It's possible that audiences and critics had been waiting years for Get Out and the timing wouldn't have played a huge role but it seemed to me that it came along at the exact right time. Get Out was made for a modest $5 million although it doesn't feel low budget in any way and it went on to make over a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide. First time writer-director Jordan Peele, known primarily for making up one half of the comedy sketch duo Key & Peele, had been a long time horror fan and Get Out was his passion project. Get Out is not your standard horror film as it turns the genre on its head playing very much likely a darkly humorous episode of The Twilight Zone. My description is purposefully vague because if you haven't seen Get Out, you should go in knowing as little as possible and it's one of the more enjoyable films to watch in subsequent viewings than any in recent history.
Honorable mention:
Atomic Blonde
The Big Sick
The Darkest Hour
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The Lego Batman Movie
Logan Lucky
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Split
Wonder Woman
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Best of 2017: Albums
This year marked the return of many great artists releasing new albums including several who've released some of my very favorite albums of the last decade plus. There are a few relative newcomers to the list but many of the usual suspects and some that just missed the cut.
10) The National - Sleep Well Beast
9) Propagandhi - Victory Lap
8) Queens of the Stone Age - Villains
7) Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
I'm not sure there's another artist out there who can release a track like 'The Heart Part 4' as just an audio trailer to their album. Just weeks before the release of DAMN. and his headlining Coachella performances, Kendrick Lamar had thrown down the gauntlet. In addition to huge hits like 'DNA.' and 'HUMBLE.' he expanded his artistic horizons with tracks like my personal favorite 'PRIDE.'. As we know, what is good is not always popular and vice versa but Kendrick Lamar is where those intersect as DAMN. ended the year as the number one selling album of the year.
Listen to PRIDE.
6) Beck - Colors
I've been a fan of Beck since playing out my compact disc of Odelay about 20 years ago. Not every album Beck has released has connected with me but I've always appreciated that he doesn't seem to go to the same well for every album. In 2014, he released Morning Phase which was more of a mellow atmospheric record in the vein of Sea Change. I really enjoyed Morning Phase which made my list of favorite albums from 2014 and I even won a couple bucks for me when it pulled off the upset of winning Album of the Year at the Grammys. That said, when Beck released 'Dreams' in 2015, I was ready for another Beck pop album. Colors delivered what I was hoping for and then some.
Listen to Up All Night
5) White Sea - Tropical Odds
After parting ways with M83, I was interested to see what Morgan Kibby who do next and she let the anticipation build while working on her second solo album under the moniker White Sea. The first two singles 'Stay Young, Get Stoned' and 'Never A Woman' were first released way back in 2015 and are both pure pop anthems. I would search Google on a regular basis for "White Sea new album" and then sometime in May the wait was finally over as Tropical Odds was finally released. Tropical Odds is 42 minutes of pure pop bliss and it deserves to be celebrated as such.
Listen to Never A Woman
4) The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
I knew of The War on Drugs before this year and their strange feud with Sun Kil Moon but had never given them a long listen. Which caused me to pleasantly surprised when I finally checked out A Deeper Understanding. This is the epitome of an album that grows on you with each listen and over the past several months my favorite track has changed a few times which is always the earmark of a great album in my experience.
Listen to In Chains
3) The xx - I See You
It's easy to be forgotten in year end lists when the album comes out in early January but I See You by The xx stayed with me the entire year. The first single 'On Hold' was released in late 2016 and set the bar very high. From the first notes of the opening track 'Dangerous', it's obvious that I See You has a greater energy than the previous two releases but still maintains the sultry vibe from that made their first two albums so intriguing.
Listen to On Hold
2) Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins
I was introduced to Grizzly Bear a short time before seeing them live at Lollapalooza in 2008. It was a remarkable live performance that made me think it must have been what it was like to see The Beach Boys live melodies during their heyday. I've been a fan ever since that performance and after five years between albums, they released their latest masterpiece Painted Ruins. There are no weak links but like with most great albums the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and with each listen every part feels more indispensable.
Listen to Three Rings
1) Ramona Falls - Coils
It starts with a very unassuming four piano notes and spoken lyrics from Brent Knopf (formerly of Menomena). The album continues to build from that point hitting some really great heights with songs 'Which Side Are You On' and 'In the Wake' but it's a full album more than a collection of songs. In a beautiful piece of symmetry, Knopf crafted the album so that the very end of the last track segues perfectly into the opening track- hence the coils or continuous loop. As the year wore on, Coils was the album that I found myself going back to again and again.
Listen to Which Side Are You On
Honorable mention:
Bing & Ruth - No Home of the Mind
Brand New - Science Fiction
Broken Social Scene - Hug of Thunder
Day Wave - The Days We Had
Future Islands - The Far Field
Hammock - Mysterium
Hippo Campus - Landmark
Mew - Visuals
Minus The Bear - VOIDS
Mogwai - Every Country's Sun
Oso Oso - The Yunahon Mixtape
Royal Blood - How Did We Get So Dark?
Spoon - Hot Thoughts
Stars - There Is No Love In Fluorescent Light
10) The National - Sleep Well Beast
The National has been a favorite of mine since stumbling onto a performance of 'Fake Empire' on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2007. Sleep Well Beast feels simultaneously more subdued and more synth-heavy than the previous albums Trouble Will Find Me and High Violet but still an album filled with beautiful melodies to accompany Matt Berninger's baritone vocal. 'Day I Die' and 'The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness' standout as my personal favorites on the album.
Listen to Day I Die
Listen to Day I Die
9) Propagandhi - Victory Lap
Propagandhi has been one of my favorite bands for over 20 years. While most of the punk music I used to enjoy in my teens seems dated, Propagandhi's musicianship and lyrical messages seem more current and relevant than ever. Victory Lap is unmistakably a Propagandhi album but it doesn't at any point feel redundant.
Listen to Adventures in Zoochosis
8) Queens of the Stone Age - Villains
Villains continues where Queens of the Stone Age left off with ...Like Clockwork which is to me that high watermark for the band. Villains is more straight forward rock and continues to showcase the tremendous musicianship of one of the more talented rock bands of the last two decades. About two minutes into of the opening track 'Feet Don't Fail Me', the song kicks into gear and the album doesn't relent from that moment.
Listen to The Evil Has Landed
7) Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
I'm not sure there's another artist out there who can release a track like 'The Heart Part 4' as just an audio trailer to their album. Just weeks before the release of DAMN. and his headlining Coachella performances, Kendrick Lamar had thrown down the gauntlet. In addition to huge hits like 'DNA.' and 'HUMBLE.' he expanded his artistic horizons with tracks like my personal favorite 'PRIDE.'. As we know, what is good is not always popular and vice versa but Kendrick Lamar is where those intersect as DAMN. ended the year as the number one selling album of the year.
Listen to PRIDE.
6) Beck - Colors
I've been a fan of Beck since playing out my compact disc of Odelay about 20 years ago. Not every album Beck has released has connected with me but I've always appreciated that he doesn't seem to go to the same well for every album. In 2014, he released Morning Phase which was more of a mellow atmospheric record in the vein of Sea Change. I really enjoyed Morning Phase which made my list of favorite albums from 2014 and I even won a couple bucks for me when it pulled off the upset of winning Album of the Year at the Grammys. That said, when Beck released 'Dreams' in 2015, I was ready for another Beck pop album. Colors delivered what I was hoping for and then some.
Listen to Up All Night
5) White Sea - Tropical Odds
After parting ways with M83, I was interested to see what Morgan Kibby who do next and she let the anticipation build while working on her second solo album under the moniker White Sea. The first two singles 'Stay Young, Get Stoned' and 'Never A Woman' were first released way back in 2015 and are both pure pop anthems. I would search Google on a regular basis for "White Sea new album" and then sometime in May the wait was finally over as Tropical Odds was finally released. Tropical Odds is 42 minutes of pure pop bliss and it deserves to be celebrated as such.
Listen to Never A Woman
4) The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
I knew of The War on Drugs before this year and their strange feud with Sun Kil Moon but had never given them a long listen. Which caused me to pleasantly surprised when I finally checked out A Deeper Understanding. This is the epitome of an album that grows on you with each listen and over the past several months my favorite track has changed a few times which is always the earmark of a great album in my experience.
Listen to In Chains
3) The xx - I See You
It's easy to be forgotten in year end lists when the album comes out in early January but I See You by The xx stayed with me the entire year. The first single 'On Hold' was released in late 2016 and set the bar very high. From the first notes of the opening track 'Dangerous', it's obvious that I See You has a greater energy than the previous two releases but still maintains the sultry vibe from that made their first two albums so intriguing.
Listen to On Hold
2) Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins
I was introduced to Grizzly Bear a short time before seeing them live at Lollapalooza in 2008. It was a remarkable live performance that made me think it must have been what it was like to see The Beach Boys live melodies during their heyday. I've been a fan ever since that performance and after five years between albums, they released their latest masterpiece Painted Ruins. There are no weak links but like with most great albums the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and with each listen every part feels more indispensable.
Listen to Three Rings
It starts with a very unassuming four piano notes and spoken lyrics from Brent Knopf (formerly of Menomena). The album continues to build from that point hitting some really great heights with songs 'Which Side Are You On' and 'In the Wake' but it's a full album more than a collection of songs. In a beautiful piece of symmetry, Knopf crafted the album so that the very end of the last track segues perfectly into the opening track- hence the coils or continuous loop. As the year wore on, Coils was the album that I found myself going back to again and again.
Listen to Which Side Are You On
Honorable mention:
Bing & Ruth - No Home of the Mind
Brand New - Science Fiction
Broken Social Scene - Hug of Thunder
Day Wave - The Days We Had
Future Islands - The Far Field
Hammock - Mysterium
Hippo Campus - Landmark
Mew - Visuals
Minus The Bear - VOIDS
Mogwai - Every Country's Sun
Oso Oso - The Yunahon Mixtape
Royal Blood - How Did We Get So Dark?
Spoon - Hot Thoughts
Stars - There Is No Love In Fluorescent Light
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)