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

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.

8) Baby Driver

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.

7) Thor: Ragnarok

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Best of 2017: Songs

As per usual, I make a playlist of my favorite songs of the year and 2017 was no exception. The playlist which can be listened to on Spotify here has well over 100 songs released in 2017 but I've whittled the list down somewhat haphazardly to my favorite 30 songs of the year.



30) Shout Out Louds - Oh Oh
29) Future Islands - Cave
28) Royal Blood - Lights Out
27) Stars - Losing To You
26) Mogwai - Party in the Dark
25) Spoon - Pink Up
24) White Sea - Stay Young, Get Stoned
23) Death From Above 1979 - Freeze Me
22) Hippo Campus - Way It Goes
21) Bishop Briggs - The Way I Do
20) Haim - Want You Back
19) Queens of the Stone Age - The Evil Has Landed
18) Father John Misty - Pure Comedy
17) Sylvan Esso - Die Young
16) Arcade Fire - Everything Now
15) Night Moves - Carl Sagan
14) Kendrick Lamar - PRIDE.
13) Alvvays - In Undertow
12) Propagandhi - Adventures in Zoochosis
11) Ramona Falls - Which Side Are You On
10) Beck - Up All Night
9) Bleachers - Don't Take The Money
8) Car Seat Headrest - War Is Coming (If You Want It)
7) The XX - On Hold
6) Los Campesinos! - I Broke Up in Amarante
5) Broken Social Scene - Halfway Home
4) Grizzly Bear - Mourning Sound
3) Sampha - (No One Knows Me) Like the Piano
2) Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still
1) Rostam - Gwan

Best of 2016: Film

There no beating around the bush- 2016 was a rough year and movies were no exception. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed all of the movies on this list but unlike previous years, it wasn't a tough task to whittle the list down to my favorite ten of the year. It was also a year in which the good movies had to be sought out. The Jungle Book, Deadpool and Doctor Strange were all commercial successes and entertaining but only two of my favorite movies in 2016 were among the top 50 in domestic box office.

10) The Nice Guys


The Nice Guys is not the Ryan Gosling movie that's expected to win a half dozen Academy Awards but it is the movie he starred in that I enjoyed the most this year. Gosling and Russell Crowe are a perfect pairing with both actors showcasing more humor than they have in any movie prior to this one. Writer-director Shane Black does a great job in making a film that is a hybrid of film noir and a buddy cop comedy (even though neither character is an actual police officer).

9) Zootopia


It's hard for a movie to contain a positive message and still be engaging and funny but Zootopia walks that fine line just right. There's also some clever jokes that probably go over the heads of younger viewers but enough silliness and slapstick to make sure the target audience never loses interest. I went in know it had received great reviews but I was still pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed Zootopia from beginning to end.

8) 20th Century Women


Writer-director Mike Mills feels to have perfectly captured the essence of Santa Barbara, CA in 1979 and the struggles of an older single mom trying to raise a teenager. Annette Benning turns in another fantastic performance in what feels like a companion piece to 2010's The Kids Are All Right. The ensemble cast of 20th Century Women also includes Greta Gerwig, Elle Fanning, Billy Crudup and newcomer Lucas Jade Zumann are all terrific in a film that feels truly authentic.

7) The Edge of Seventeen


It's rare that a movie made primarily for and about young people rings true but writer and first-time director Kelly Fremon Craig appears to be drawing from personal experience as the whole movie never hits a false note. Hailee Steinfield, who first garnered attention in the 2010 remake of True Grit, is excellent as the lead character Nadine struggling trying to figure out her emotions several years after the passing of her father. Don't let that fool you though as the movie is also sharply funny with an excellent supporting turn from Woody Harrelson.

6) Lion


Lion is an expertly crafted film. The pacing, visuals and music are all executed superbly by Australian director Garth Davis who was making his first feature film. Another surprising first is the performance from first time actor Sunny Pawar which is nothing short of extraordinary. The second half of the movie wasn't quite as enthralling to me as the first half but I was still fully invested in the outcome and very much enjoyed it.

5) Green Room


It's hard to classify Green Room when someone asks what kind of movie it is. It's not exactly a horror film or a thriller but it lives in that realm and it's made all the more terrifying because of how real it feels. Green Room has a terrific ensemble cast led by the late Anton Yelchin who's probably best known for his role as Chekov in the rebooted Star Trek franchise or the lead character in Alpha Dog but he really shines here as the terrified punk rocker.

4) Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping


Ever since seeing Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping on opening weekend, I've been wracking my brain to remember the last comedy that I enjoyed as much. I probably laughed harder when I saw There's Something About Mary in the theater but that's going back to 1998 when I was in high school. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is the modern day version of This Is Spinal Tap and is a biting satire on not only pop music but pop culture. It also doesn't hurt that the songs are not only very funny but much better than they have any business being.

3) Midnight Special


Writer-director Jeff Nichols is getting a lot of acclaim and awards nominations for his film Loving, and rightly so but it'd be a shame to overlook the brilliance of his movie Midnight Special that came out earlier in the year. Nichols does a masterful job on sucking the audience into the story in the very first seconds of the film with a local television commercial followed by a news report that only starts to explain this very bizarre story that unfolds over the next two hours. Michael Shannon has been in all five of Jeff Nichols films and he shines in this one as the protective father figure.

2) Moonlight


Within the very first scene of Moonlight, I wasn't exactly sure who the characters are or what time period the movie is taking place but you recognize that you are in the hands of a very skilled filmmaker. Writer-director Barry Jenkins in just his second full length film shows not only a tremendous eye for stunning visuals but a clear grasp of knowing how to let the emotions of his characters breathe for the exact right amount of time. I walked into theater knowing nothing about the plot and was blown away by the story of Chiron which went in a fascinating direction that I never saw coming.

1) Arrival


Last year director Denis Villeneuve was behind one of my very favorite movies Sicario and this year he directed my favorite movie. Arrival is a masterpiece that unfolds before your eyes in a truly original way. Based on "The Story of Your Life" by writer Ted Chiang, screenwriter Eric Heisserer and Villeneuve take a somewhat familiar story of an alien arrival on earth and make it wholly original. The dialogue is smart, the cinematography is beautiful, the acting is engaging and the score is phenomenal.

Honorable mention:

10 Cloverfield Lane
Deadpool
Doctor Strange
Hail, Caesar!
Hidden Figures
Kubo and the Two Strings
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Rogue One
Swiss Army Man

Best of 2016: Television

Making this list was kind of difficult this year because with several of my favorite shows leaving the air for good (Hannibal, Parks and Recreation, Justified, and The Knick) as well as some other shows not airing any new episodes this year (Fargo, Nathan For You and Review) it cut down my list of old standbys considerably. That being said, there were some returning favorites as well as a few great new shows.


10) Brooklyn Nine-Nine

After working as a producer and writer on The Office, Michael Schur went on to co-create Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and most recently The Good Place. There's a common thread in all of these shows which is that the characters are allowed to do silly and preposterous things as long as they are within the boundaries of their character. Following in the footsteps of his previous shows, Schur and co-creator Dan Goor always make sure that on top of being funny the audience ends up caring about the characters used to populate the world.

9) The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

I seemed to have more problems with this anthology series than most viewers and critics but that doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable. There were winks at the camera with references to the Kardashian family and some subpar performances. However, stellar performances from Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark, Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran and Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden helped to elevate the source material and make a story we all know the ending to infinitely watchable.

8) Game of Thrones

I can't really describe why but despite the insane cult following, many awards and and generally universal critical acclaim, Game of Thrones has always been a show I enjoyed but felt it more as a guilty pleasure than the standard bearer for great television. However, in the sixth season, I believe they put forward their best work to date. Several episodes in the season were as good as anything on television.

7) Man Seeking Woman

If there's a more surreal or absurd scripted sitcom on television then I'm not aware of it. Man Seeking Woman followed up a very strong first season with another hilarious 10 episodes. Creator Simon Rich and his writing staff take some big swings and they aren't always home runs but it consistently makes me laugh which is why it made my top ten shows for a second year in a row.


6) Better Call Saul

In a way, I feel bad for the creative team behind Better Call Saul. Even though they've put out two very good seasons of television with some great moments, they'll never be judged on their own because of the show's connection to Breaking Bad. That being said, I've enjoyed the show a great deal and tried to judge it on its own merits even with the numerous winks and nods to the show's predecessor.

5) The Night Of

Another terrific outing from HBO who enlisted talented writers Richard Price and Steve Zaillian to adapt the British series Criminal Justice into the miniseries The Night Of. The writing is excellent in giving the audience just enough rope to speculate as to the outcome of the murder in question. A cast including John Turturro, Riz Ahmed and Bill Camp do tremendous work as the attorney, the suspect and the detective respectively. 

4) Atlanta

I didn't get around to watching Atlanta when it was airing but I caught up later and loved it. It's a show that has moments that feel incredibly real that are juxtaposed with some absurdist satire. Creator and star Donald Glover is great as the down on his luck producer but his co-stars Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz and especially Keith Stanfield are all perfectly cast. Slowly but surely FX has built a roster of TV shows to rival or exceed just about any network.

3) Mr. Robot

Following up an excellent first season of a creative new show is very difficult but that didn't slow down Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail. It was not a perfect season but it had contained several of my very favorite and ambitious scenes of anything that I saw this year including the insane opening sequence during the season's sixth episode.

2) Stranger Things

No show seemed to have exploded this year quite like Stranger Things. After being rejected by several cable networks, creators Matt and Ross Duffer found a home at Netflix for the series set in 1983 that plays like Stephen King's greatest hits. Despite having some very familiar elements Stranger Things manages to succeed on its own without feeling derivative. The score and cinematography push it to another level.


1) The Americans

Despite being among the very best shows on television for four years in a row, The Americans has yet to find a wide audience. Thankfully the President of FX John Landgraf seems to be less concerned with ratings than making a quality product as the network has renewed the show for a final two seasons despite declining ratings. Everything from the writing to the acting to the set design is nearly perfect in every episode. As the show continues further and further you become more invested in the characters. Given the recent developments politically between the United States and Russia the content of the show is as timely as ever.

Honorable mention:

Animal Kingdom
Comedy Bang Bang
Halt and Catch Fire
Search Party
Silicon Valley
Westworld

Best of 2016: Albums

To be honest, it was kind of hard to make the top ten this year and I really could have interchanged any of the top six albums because unlike the last few years there was no clear cut favorite album of the year for me. With that out of the way, here are the album I enjoyed the most from 2016.


10) Blood Orange - Freetown Sound

With third album the name Blood Orange, Dev Hynes made a very bold decision. Hynes once again is the primary composer and musician for Freetown Sound but he takes more of a backseat vocally as he recruited an amazing collection of female singers including Empress Of, Debbie Harry, Carly Rae Jepsen, Nelly Furtado and Kelsey Lu to provide a large amount of the vocals. The album changes tonally throughout the 16 tracks but somehow manages to remain cohesive.

Listen to Best to You

9) Lewis Del Mar - Lewis Del Mar

There's a hint of Alt-J and Tune-Yards in this debut effort from the New York City based duo Lewis Del Mar. That being said, the album felt like a breath of fresh air from an artist I wasn't familiar with before this year. From the opening track 'Such Small Scenes', I was instantly intrigued by the direction of the album.

Listed to Painting (Masterpiece)


8) Miike Snow - iii

I've been a fan of Miike Snow since shortly after the self-titled debut album was released in 2009. However, this year it was taken to another level with iii which is a great album that I was able to see performed live (most of it anyway) during a great concert at Pappy & Harriet's. iii has the great hooks you've come to expect from Miike Snow but also some slower and somber moments in terrific songs like 'I Feel The Weight' which never feels out of place.

Listen to I Feel The Weight

7) Explosions In The Sky - The Wilderness

Almost exactly five years after the release of their last studio album Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, one of my absolute favorite bands returned with The Wilderness. For the unindoctrinated, Explosions In The Sky has no vocals and they generally don't write in songs as much as they do movements like a classical composer. The Wilderness has nine tracks which is more than any previous album and they are shorter than the typical Explosions In The Sky songs but remain incredibly powerful. The first time I gave the entire album a dedicated listen was five days after it was released as I walked along the beach in San Diego shortly after being laid off from my old job and it was a life affirmed experience. I was then lucky enough to see them live for the 8th time the next month at the Ace Hotel. I've mentioned it before but if you have a chance to see them live it will be something you will not regret.

Listen to Disintegration Anxiety


6) Nothing - Tired of Tomorrow

I first became aware of Nothing in 2014 when their debut full length album Guilty of Everything came out and made my list of favorite albums that year. Tired of Tomorrow expands on the shoegaze soundscape they created in the first album and is more accessible without compromising the unique sound that makes them so great.

Listen to Vertigo Flowers

5) Yeasayer - Amen & Goodbye

From the opening notes of the very Pink Floyd esque intro track 'Daughters Of Cain', I was completely on board with Amen & Goodbye. Nearly a decade since their debut album All Hour Cymbals, Yeasayer has released what I feel is there most complete effort. Yeasayer as been tagged with the labeled of experimental rock which I think it generally misused when a band or artist can't be categorized into a traditional genre of music but in Amen & Goodbye they do experiment with a wide variety of sounds (including the theremin heavy track 'Uma') and the results of their experimentation are fantastic.

Listen to I Am Chemistry


4) Bon Iver - 22, A Million

If the second Bon Iver album was considered a departure from the first record, then the most recent album 22, A Million is from a different planet. Not everything on the album completely lands with me this time around but most of it does and several of them are among the best songs I heard this year even though they're difficult songs to reference in conversation like '8 (circle)' and '22 (OVER S∞∞N)'.

Listen to 33 "GOD"


3) Flock of Dimes - If You See Me, Say Yes

For fans of Jenn Wasner like myself, 2016 was a sweet relief. Not only did Wasner and her collaborator Andy Stack release a new Wye Oak record entitled Tween appropriately titled as it's somewhere between an EP and a full length LP, but Wasner also released her debut solo album under the moniker Flock of Dimes. You may not know her by name but there's a good chance you've heard Wasner's angelic voice as the Wye Oak song Civilian of the album of the same name has been listened to tens of millions times after being featured on an episode of The Walking Dead. If You See Me, Say Yes is full of expertly crafted melodies accompanied by Wasner's angelic voice that seeming floats above the music.

Listen to Semaphore


2) Jim James - Eternally Even

One year after releasing the seventh studio album with My Morning Jacket, frontman Jim James released his second solo album Eternally Even. As a member of My Morning Jacket, James has helped write a few of my favorite songs of the last 10-15 years (as well as a couple of my favorite late night talk show performances) and now he's created one of my favorite albums. Eternally Even is just one mellow groove song after another that flow so well together they practically melt into each other. It's album that feels like it could've been recorded in the late 1960s and should be able to continue to stand the test of time.

Listen to Here In Spirit


1) Hammock - Everything and Nothing

I remarked before on previous lists that when you listen to dozens or hundreds of albums every year, being able to remember where you were and what you were doing when you first heard an album is general a good sign of the impression that it left on you. I remember Everything and Nothing was released on April 1st along with about half a dozen albums I really had been anticipating including two which also made this list (Amen & Goodbye and The Wilderness) but Everything and Nothing is the album that I kept coming back to as the year went on. I'm generally of the opinion that no album should be over an hour long but this is the exception that proves the rule as it glides for 76 minutes of sonic bliss.

Listen to Glassy Blue


Honorable mention:

The 1975 - I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
Beach Slang - A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings
Car Seat Headrest - Teens Of Denial
Chance The Rapper - Coloring Book
Childish Gambino - "Awaken, My Love!"
Dinosaur Jr. - Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not
Francis and the Lights - Farewell, Starlite!
Frank Ocean - Blonde
Glass Animals - How To Be A Human Being
John K. Samson - Winter Wheat
Peals - Honey
The Radio Dept. - Running Out Of Love
Weezer - Weezer (White Album)

Best of 2016: Songs

Sames rules apply as per usual: no repeat artists or multiple songs from the same album. You can listen to my Best of 2016 Spotify playlist here that has all these songs and over a hundred more released in 2016. To be honest, I wasn't sure how this year was gonna measure up but I had to cut some songs I thought were really, really good to make this list of my 30 favorite.


30) M83 - Solitude
29) Sleigh Bells - I Can Only Stare
28) Everything Everything - I Believe It Now
27) Young The Giant - Amerika
26) Classixx - Just Let Go (feat. How To Dress Well)
25) Sundara Karma - Loveblood
24) Chairlift - Moth to the Flame
23) Jack Garratt - Worry
22) Car Seat Headrest - Vincent
21) Miike Snow - Heart Is Full
20) Frank Ocean - Ivy
19) Har Mar Superstar - Anybody's Game
18) James Blake - I Need A Forest Fire (feat Bon Iver)
17) Beach Slang - Punks In A Disco Bar
16) Flock of Dimes - Minor Justice
15) All Human - Desert Fox Cubs Play Under a Sky Full of Stars
14) Follin - Roxy
13) Day Wave - Stuck
12) Dinosaur Jr. - Be a Part
11) Childish Gambino - Redbone
10) Local Natives - Fountain Of Youth
9) Lucius - Born Again Teen
8) Hammock - Everything and Nothing
7) Grouplove - Enlighten Me
6) Nothing - Vertigo Flowers
5) Glass Animals - Youth
4) Weezer - Jacked Up
3) Yeasayer - I Am Chemistry
2) Blood Orange - Best to You
1) Bon Iver - 33 "GOD"

So Your Asshole Friend Without Kids Wants To Give You Parenting Advice...

As you can probably guess from the title, I understand the audacity of writing this but I felt it was worthwhile regardless.

Today I was out for a morning walk with my dog Arrow listening to the most recent album by Explosions In The Sky when I had a bit of an epiphany.

Before leaving on the walk, I had emailed my mom who had asked me twice already for a Christmas list. I doubt it's normal for a 34 year old man to send a Christmas list to his mom but for better or worse that's the relationship I have with my mom. It has become harder each year to come up with a list because the kind of tangible things I used to collect like DVDs and CDs have become more or less obsolete in the streaming world. I also have a job that pays me decently so when there's something I feel I really want or need, then I usually buy it for myself. I told my mom I wouldn't mind a Movie Pass or movie gift card and I could use a new pair of walking shoes because my current pair has a hole in the heel likely caused by slipping them on and off without untying the laces. However, this year, partly inspired by my friend Travis who came up with a similar arrangement for he and I, I told my mom she could just make a donation to a charity for me.

I suggested the charity Friends & Helpers which I made a physical donation to last night. It's a charity that works with domestic abuse victims who are primarily women and children who have had to flee their homes. During the holidays Friends & Helpers works to give those victims a Christmas to restore some normalcy to a family going through a traumatic time. I drove out to Sunflower School in Glendora, CA dropped off a bag with a couple of movie theater gift cards, a baseball glove, a football, a soccer ball and a few packs of baseball cards. I'm a little out of touch so I don't know if young children have any interest in baseball cards but I figured it wouldn't hurt. The volunteers met me at my car and helped me to take the items out of my trunk then gave me a clipboard to write down my information and I was on my way. It was quick and easy.

There's no right or wrong way to donate your time, money or energy to a charitable cause but this felt more special to me because I was Christmas shopping for a young boy or girl. I realized after the fact my gifts might have been a little too catered towards boys but I'll work on that next time. It was more fulfilling than just clicking a button or writing a check.

Now back to the aforementioned epiphany; I realized during my morning walk that when I was a young boy, my mom would take me and my brother Aaron to pick out toys around Christmas but they weren't for us. We were as spoiled as a middle class family could get around Christmas, don't get me wrong but we would buy some presents to take to a shelter for abused women and children. I don't remember the exact name of the shelter and I wouldn't post it anyway because the name denoted the location and I remember my mom telling me the location was a secret so the abusers couldn't locate their victims. The memory of doing this hadn't crossed my mind for over 20 years until I realized I had done the same thing which brings me to the advice portion of this post.

Most of you who have children will spoil your kids because you love them more than anything in the world and that is okay. You should let your children know they are loved and I'm not trying to preach some pie in the sky ideology that says material gifts don't equal love. One of the most important things my mom did for me was showing love, compassion and empathy for other people which is something that became so ingrained in my psyche I ended up following her example without even realizing it.

This week after Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, was Giving Tuesday which is sadly a lot less well known than the shopping holidays. I think part of it has to do with the fact that if you're anything like me, first of all- sorry, but secondly, it feels awkward to talk to someone about giving to a charity because maybe you'll think they'll judge you as someone who is only giving for the recognition. Over the last 24 hours, I've realized donating to charity is not something that only needs to be between you and your accountant when you file your taxes at the end of the year. So, don't feel the need to hold back from sharing if you do something charitable or see something charitable that inspires you but most importantly, share the process and experience with your children because it will help shape them into the men and women they will eventually become.

If this comes across as preachy and pious as it seems in my head, I hope my intentions are understood. I don't write this thinking I'm holier than thou. I can be angry, bitter, depressed or self-indulgent and sometimes all at once. I'll watch the David Foster Wallace commencement speech and try to be kinder to people then find myself honking and yelling at a stranger mere hours later but then I make a concerted effort to try again.

If you're looking for a first step in donations, I'd recommend checking a site like GuideStar just to make sure your hard earned money is going towards the charity and not to pay a board of directors who decides a good use of your money to send out nickels and address labels to contributors. The two charities I personally have donated to recently are Friends & Helpers and charity: water. As I was walking back towards my house and formulating these thoughts I felt a great sense of optimism because even though the country feels as angry and divided as it's been in a long time, the overwhelming majority of people are good and the friends of mine with children are raising them with love, compassion and empathy, and as long as we have that-