By Null
The most significant moments in my musical life this year were the addition of a functional, decent record player and my new We Are Rewind portable cassette player. It has been great to finally spend time with some of my old LPs and to acquire some new ones. Also, I spend most nights in bed listening to cassettes as I fall asleep. It’s as if the new millennium never happened.
The first four albums on this list share a theme and continuity: the passage of time and getting older. I don’t think this is a coincidence, as I turned 50 years old this year. These records are how I feel, in general, as of late. As my dad would say, with a hint of sarcasm and resignation, “Good luck in the future.”
Brain Fallon, Local Honey (Lesser Known, 2020).
SoDak, another writer for this site, turned me on to this album. It appeared on his year-end list two years in a row. I would write a few words about it, but just thinking about this short, 8-song record, makes me want to burst into tears. Longing, life, loss, love—it’s all here.
“Part of me stays in the room where we met.”
Local Honey is perfection whispered.
Shore was the first Fleet Foxes record I heard. I knew they were a popular indie band in the last decade or so, but I couldn’t name one song. I went in with virgin ears and found a record I really needed to hear. It felt soothing and healing. I listened to it exclusively for several weeks.
I could dress as Arthur Lee
Scrape my shoes the right way
Maybe read Ulysses
But it’s a young man’s game.
Bruce Springsteen, Letter to You (Columbia, 2020).
Of my top five Springsteen albums, only two were made with the E Street Band. Letter to You is one of the two. The band has contained its bombast in order to fill these killer songs with texture and emotion. Springsteen was inspired to make this record after the death of his old friend, which resulted in the fact that he is the last living member of his first band, The Castiles. He looks back with sadness and celebration. It’s the best full band record since Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978).
Well sons they search for fathers
But the fathers are all gone
The lost souls search for saviors
But saviors don’t last long.
Letter to You is a masterwork.
The War on Drugs, I Don’t Live There Anymore (Atlantic, 2021).
Here is yet another cohesive album that stuck to my ribs this year. I Don’t Live There Anymore seeps into one’s consciousness as a ghostly faded memory. The effect is otherworldly, and one of fading away or letting go. Somehow this album mixes familiar classic rock tropes via Dylan into a contemporary 1980s retro dream.
There’s a rain protecting me
Rings around my father’s eyes
Light above the morning sea
Into darkness, I will reach
Fall into the ocean deep
Just to bring you back.
Lili Refrain, Mana (Subsound, 2022).
I stumbled upon Lili Refrain one day and was blown away by her latest album. She is an Italian artist who mostly works alone; she sings, plays guitar, drums, keyboards, and works with loops. She could easily share a bill with the mighty Dead Can Dance. Her music seems to come from the center of the earth. Mana is a beautiful and dark meditation of doom blossoming.
This album is stunning.
HDQ, Sinking (Positive Records, 1989).
The only reason I even know this band exists is because SoDak recorded it onto a cassette tape decades ago and passed it on to me this year thinking I would like it. He wasn’t wrong. I instantly fell in love with this great punk rock band from the United Kingdom. The only problem is that the record is out of print and really difficult to get a hold of for a decent price.
Though punk rock saved my life, it is rare for me to discover a new (to me) punk rock band that I am instantly crazy about. I hope to pick up some of their records this year. Until then, I will rewind the tape and hope the player doesn’t eat it.
HDQ—punk rock: the way no god or masters intended.
Engelbert Humperdinck (in general)
My grandmother used to listen to Engelbert Humperdinck. He has been described as “one of the finest middle-of-the-road balladeers around.” Something about this quote made me love him. I started listening to the album my grandmother used to play a lot, Release Me, from 1967. It’s fascinating to hear the backing band, strings, and extreme panning on the early records. It was another time.
I then bought a box set with all of his Decca releases. I’ll probably never listen to them all, which I’ve come to terms with. I then bought a shirt from his website that says, “When you’re Engelbert Humperdinck, every day is a hump day,” with a picture of an 80-year old Humperdinck behind the lettering.
I then bought a newer record, The Man I Want to Be, which he dedicated to his wife. She had been suffering from Alzheimer’s for a decade and he was her caretaker. She died in 2021.
Humperdinck has been consistently touring and making albums for decades. He just keeps going. At 86, the guy must still love what he is doing. He even does little shows on Youtube from his house. He is a romantic cheese-ball that could work the senior center circuit.
There is some defiance in his unwillingness to stop. Love him or hate him, I don’t think he cares.
Kudos to you, Engelbert.
Fuck’em.
Dead Moon, all the Dead Moon records on vinyl and the Dead Moon Book.
Everybody knows that Dead Moon is best experienced on vinyl. Given that I finally have a functioning record player, I proceeded to get all the Dead Moon, Pierced Arrows, Rats, and other Fred Cole releases on vinyl. I think I’m only missing one Dead Moon record. Fuck yeah.
I was also able to acquire the infamous Dead Moon Book from Germany where a second printing took place. It comes with a 2 LP vinyl compilation. The book is awesome. I’m always digging in the Cole mine.
Various Artists, Life Moves Pretty Fast: The John Hughes Mixtapes (Demon, 2022).
This is a great compilation of four CDs that function as “mixed tapes.” There is a lot of diversity in this set. It has a lot of 1980s type stuff on it, but it also contains many deep tracks and old school soul and big band. It truly lives up to its name. Like any great mixed tape (cassette, for the kids), you’re never quite sure what is coming next, but it all seems to fit together somehow.
Various Artists, Heroes & Villains: The Sound of Los Angeles 1965-68 (Grapefruit, 2022).
The title says it all. This three CD set is filled with rare and even unreleased stuff. There are too many hidden gems in this box set to even begin to count. Check out this little ditty. It is one of many examples. Is it the infancy of punk rock? So damn good.
Temple of Void, Summoning the Slayer (Relapse, 2022).
Temple of Void is from Michigan and they still have day jobs. Despite the daily grind, they have made a string of unique “doom/death” metal records that few bands could hold a candle to. On their fourth album, Summoning the Slayer, they continue to stretch out and expand their sound. This album contains acoustic guitars, clean vocals, and vast expanses that result in a mudslide of beauty. It would appear that Temple of Void cares little for the outside world, as they create an alternative universe that engulfs the listener. Even the growling vocals fit into the mix in a soothing way. This band always takes the listener on a journey; the destination is irrelevant. This band is endlessly fascinating.
Olivia Newton-John, If Not for You (Deluxe Edition) (Primary Wave, 2022).
I listened to this album over and over again this year. It is a two disc set. The first disc is the original 1971 album remastered, while the second disc is full of singles, B-sides, alternative versions, and even contains several tracks form the band Tomorrow. If Not for You was her debut album.
It seemed fitting somehow that as I was familiarizing myself with the album that began her musical career while her real/personal life was ending. She died in August of this year. The 12 year old in me finds this incomprehensible.
Here’s a little something I wrote about her for this site after learning of her passing: https://tickleyourtaint.blogspot.com/search?q=olivia.
The Spacelords, Spaceflowers (Tonzonen, 2020).
The Spacelords are a German three-piece instrumental psychedelic rock band with many albums. I happened upon this album by chance. I’m happy I did. Spaceflowers only contains three songs; one song clocks it at 24 minutes. They aren’t in hurry. Though the listener will inevitably get lost on this journey, the comforting hand and pulse of The Spacelords lends an overall calming effect on the psyche.
Midnight Oil, Resist (Sony, 2022).
A brilliant return with sharpened teeth. It could be one of the most important records released this year. See a review I wrote with SoDak earlier this year: https://tickleyourtaint.blogspot.com/2022/04/midnight-oil-resist-sony-2022.html.
Favorite Live Shows of 2022:
Alice in Chains (Denver, Colorado).
I wish they would have played more of their new stuff, but I still loved every song. It’s amazing how they pull off all those crazy harmonies live.
The Menzingers (Fort Collins, Colorado).
They performed the whole of their literary classic On the Impossible Past. See my original, 2012 review of said album here: https://tickleyourtaint.blogspot.com/search?q=on+the+impossible.
Son Volt (Fort Collins, Colorado).
I’m not sure how many times I have seen Son Volt, but they are always great. It always feels like going home.
Documentary:
Dio: Dreamers Never Die (2022).
I saw this as part of the limited run in the theater with friends. It was really fun. Following the main documentary, we saw some extra outtakes. I hope they release these outtakes on the DVD version.
Music related stuff:
We Are Rewind portable cassette player.
No one makes a good cassette player anymore. Sometimes you can get a good old solid state one by a reputable brand, but the best “portable boombox” option is made by Sony and it pales in comparison to what they used to make. It also looks stupid. I have several.
A group of people in France put their heads together and attempted to make a decent, high-quality portable cassette player, think Sony’s Walkman.
I gave these cats 100 bucks at the beginning of the pandemic, and after going through many prototypes, the final version of the cassette player was finalized and manufactured. I received mine a few weeks ago. It is built like a tank.
I love it.
It isn’t quite up to the quality of the original Walkmen, but it is well built. It is not made of plastic. It does have some background noise and some wobble. I only hope the wobble is improved in a future version.
Yes, cassettes suck, I know. However, it is one of many fetishes I enjoy. My life is not practical. I reject the digital world.
Record Player.
My lover of 28 years bought me a decent and functional record player for my birthday last year. I have had a lot of fun listening to my old vinyl records and picking up some new ones. Everybody needs to slow the fuck down.
No comments:
Post a Comment