#ghosts of west viriginia

[sinceileftyoublog]

Steve Earle & Florence Dore Live Show Review: 10/23, Stoughton Opera House

BY JORDAN MAINZER

James McMurtry once told me that Steve Earle “gets his political point across without making it a sermon.” During Saturday night’s acoustic solo show at the Stoughton Opera House in Wisconsin, Earle gave a masterclass in such performance. Though he railed against guns, union busters, and the Israeli government--just as any average angry self-described liberal might if they, too had a microphone and a stage--Earle posed his thoughts and contextualized his songs in observational humility. Though he played some of his best-known diatribes, like “The Devil’s Right Hand”, it was his more recent material that stood out. Earle wrote music for the 2020 play Coal Country about the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in West Virginia; it received an extremely limited run in 2020, shortened due to the pandemic. Those songs, however, would make up Steve Earle & The Dukes’ excellent Ghosts of West Virginia (New West), released last year. With both projects, Earle was inspired after perceiving that America “stopped listening to each other.” And before you could roll your eyes at something that on the surface seems like substance-free both-sidesism, Earle proved his chops, explaining how WV is truly a “purple state” due to the prevalence of unions, and how we’ll “never solve jobs and the environment until you talk about them together.” In other words, unlike so many politicians, Earle’s opinions are fully formed from his experience talking to folks in earnest. That he seemed to be genuine in speaking to an audience about his experiences brought the McMurtry quote full circle.

Still, it was Earle’s actual singing and playing where the empathy came to life. “It’s About Blood”’s first verse contains the line, “Goddamn right, I’m emotional,” and by the end, when Earle read the names of all 29 miners who died in the disaster, he was out of breath. He clearly wasn’t acting when he entered the headspace of someone like Tommy Davis, who lost a son, brother, and nephew in the explosion. He felt it. Earle lost his son Justin Townes Earle last year, to whom he paid tribute on this year’s J.T., an album of mostly covers of Justin’s songs. Yet, the night was so emotionally intense with Earle telling other people’s stories, that if he hadn’t ended his set with Justin’s “Harlem River Blues”, you might have forgotten about J.T.

Earle also revisited stories from his past, many about love, many more about heartbreak. “This goes out to whatshername, wherever she is,” he quipped before singing "Feel Alright”. “Same girl, different harmonica,” he joked while switching instruments before “Goodbye”. The way he sang, grumbling before or after songs, or even within lines, worked as a way for him to transition into new moods or modes of thought. Of course, sweet tunes like Washington Square Serenade’s “Sparkle and Shine” and blues shuffle “You’re the Best Lover That I Ever Had” found their place alongside lovelorn bitterness. “Women argue which song is about who,” Earle said, before revealing, “The truth is they’re all about me.” Clearly, that he’s able to recognize an inherent navel-gazing in songwriting allows him to overcome it, something on display on Saturday whether he was singing about girls that have done him wrong or victims of capitalist greed.

In that sense, Florence Dore was the perfect person to open for Earle, admitting that “disastrous relationships made for great songs” but learning to move past the tendency to showcase catastrophe. Instead, she played songs about her mother, her grandmother, her daughter, and menopause. Perhaps she changed in part because of what’s been going on in her life for two decades: Dore has one album to her name, 2001′s Perfect City, and is set to release her long-awaited follow-up in January. (The recording and vinyl pressing have been delayed due to the pandemic.) In between then, she wrote a book, put on a conference at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, became a board member at the Bob Dylan Institute, taught, and married and had kids with Dukes drummer Will Rigby. If what she performed on Saturday was any indication, her new album will be reflective and funny and semi-biographical, while hopefully still finding room for a little acid. 

[sleepykittypaws]

Best and Worst of 2019

With Christmas content increasing exponentially year over year (e.g. 84 new made-for-TV movies on cable/Netflix in 2018 vs 121 this season), it seems like we’ll never run out of holiday viewing to rate and review.

2019 saw a staggering 171 new movies debut on broadcast, cable, streaming or VOD, with 15-20 more theatrical releases, plus dozens of series and specials. There were so many new movie options this season, I kept a real-time ranking, for the first time ever.

All told, well more than 350 new holiday-themed viewing options aired in 2019, with no end to the escalation in sight. No one could possibly even begin to tackle them all, but of the 50-plus new, or new-to-me, things I watched this season (starting, for the first time, way back in October), here’s what I felt made for the best and worst holiday viewing in 2019…

Best Made-for-TV Holiday Movie of 2019

This category was basically a dead heat between the well-made, and heart-tugging, Holiday for Heroes on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, the only Hallmark movie this season I can say I really enjoyed, and the Hilarie Burton vehicle A Christmas Wish, on Lifetime. In the end, I had more fun watching the latter, so I’m giving Wish the slight edge, but Heroes, as manipulative and predictable as it was, did make me cry at least three times, so it’s hard to quantify.

The dark horse here is Greyson Family Christmas from Bounce TV, a network I never even knew existed before watching this. Greyson was smart and sweet, and though I know it probably had half the budget of even a Hallmark or Lifetime cheapie, it was very well done, with a great cast. A sequel may be in the works, according to producers, so 🤞.

Lastly, whatever Lifetime does next season, they need to keep Emily Moss Wilson happy, because she produced my two favorite movies on the net, directing and co-writing both Wish and Christmas in Louisiana.

Top 10 made-for-TV Christmas Movies of 2019

A Christmas Wish, Lifetime

Holiday for Heroes, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

Greyson Family Christmas, Bounce TV

Christmas in Louisiana, Lifetime

Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas, Freeform

Christmas Belles, BET

Holiday in the Wild, Netflix

Turkey Drop, Freeform

Twas the Chaos Before Christmas, BET

Sweet Mountain Christmas, Lifetime

Between Hallmark and Lifetime I managed to watch 14 of their 70 (!!) movies, 4 of which (3 Lifetime, 1 Hallmark) made my top 10. There was a much better return-on-investment for Freeform and BET, who produced only 3 and 4 new movies, respectively, but both had 2 that I felt ranked in that top group. Bounce only had 2 total, with 1 showing up here. 

All of that to say…Quantity often seems to come at the expense of quality, and I’m not talking about financial investment, since the budget for Bounce and BET movies is probably half that of Hallmark’s average, if not less. But regardless of overall budget, it seems the more movies a network makes, the less attention—in production, editing, script development, etc.—each can receive. I may have liked more on Lifetime (though I also watched more there), but I definitely think the toll of the numbers increase is showing on both Hallmark and Lifetime. 

One area where Lifetime, and every other channel for that matter, absolutely outshines Hallmark, is in diversity, both in front of and behind the camera. 

Best Theatrical Holiday Movie of 2019

The gorgeous 2D animation of the destined-to-be-a-classic Klaus just edges out the big-budget, superhero with holiday heart, action movie Shazam! at the top of my list, but there were more great, theatrical-quality Christmas movies out there to enjoy than ever before.

For instance, the West Viriginia-set indie, Feast of the Seven Fishes, was a made-on-a-shoestring, holiday delight, which will definitely get repeat viewings for us.

Klaus, Shazam! and Fishes were my three favorite, new holiday movies of the year, of any genre.  

Top 5 Theatrical Holiday Movies of 2019

Klaus, theatrical/Netflix

Shazam!, theatrical

Feast of the Seven Fishes, limited theatrical/VOD

Noelle, Disney+

Let It Snow, Netflix

And that list doesn’t even touch on movies that weren’t specifically Christmas-themed, but either prominently featured the holiday in key moments (what I call “stealth” Christmas movies), for example Hustlers, or that weren’t about Christmas, but had a holiday-appropriate, snowy vibe, like Disney+’s extraordinary adventure film Togo, or DreamWorks’ Abominable. All three of which would have ranked quite highly had I considered them.

Best Holiday Special of 2019

One in four Brits watched the Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special on Christmas Day. That the latest chapter in the classic series, which last aired a decade ago, felt like such a seamless continuation of the story and characters after so long, is impressive, as was the actors’ ability to recapture that Barry Island vibe without missing a beat.

Though the rest of the series is also available on Hulu and Amazon Prime for Americans, it was Britbox that made this available to U.S. viewers the same day as in the U.K. Watching it inspired me to go back and binge the entire series, and I have to say I think it was even better the second time around. Watching the original series finale and then the 2019 special just minutes apart, I couldn’t help but notice how seamlessly the continuity held up. And, having recently seen the whole thing again, meant I picked up on some inside jokes and Easter Eggs in the special I’d missed the first time ‘round. I truly hope this isn’t the last we see of the Shipman-West and Jenkins-Smith families, but, if is the end, it were “lush,” as Stacey would say.

Honorable mention in this category goes to Netflix’s A Family Reunion Christmas. Wasn’t sure what to expect, having never seen the series it’s based on, but this was a a cute, kid-friendly lark my whole family enjoyed. Not to mention showing off how much more comedy Tia Mowry-Hardrict is capable of than she's allowed to show in her Lifetime and Hallmark Christmas movies.

A late breaking addition to this category is Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: Two Doors Down. It’s not so much what you’d call “good,” per se, but it is the cheese-y, feel-good, Queer-centric holiday romance featuring Dolly Parton singing Auld Lange Syne I think we all needed. 

Best Holiday Series of 2019

Even though though Fox seemed to have no faith in The Moodys (Christmas), burning it off over three non-consecutive  nights, I really enjoyed this American remake of the Austrian original, A Moody Christmas. (Update: Folks at Fox are at least teasing the idea of renewal.)

Fox marketing for this was so convoluted they couldn’t even seem to settle on a name. Was it The Moodys? Or The Moodys Christmas? Don’t ask the network, because they’re definitely not sure, even just based on their own graphics.

Despite all that, Dennis Leary and Elizabeth Perkins were awesome as the parents, and we laughed a lot at this series that also had plenty of heart. The action did feel rushed in a way the original, set over years, not days, did not, but both series are well worth watching, and you can find both seasons of the Oz original on Acorn.

Best Holiday Reality Series of 2019

Yep, there’s now so much holiday TV, that we have not only a “best series” category, but also a “best reality series” category. It’s bonkers! 

A word that also aptly describes Freeform’s deceptively simple Wrap Battle, a gift-wrapping reality show. Yeah, you not only heard that premise correctly, but it actually ended up being good. Plot twist! 

Fresh, fun and inventive, Wrap Battle had enough snark to be snappy, but not so much that it felt un-festive. Exquisitely cast—why, I ask the universe, isn’t Carson Kressley hosting absolutely everything?—this even inspired my 12-year-old to up his own gift-wrapping game. We were opening pleated and fanned presents all of December 25.

Best New-to-Me Holiday Discovery of 2019

I didn’t get to Lifetime’s 2018 acquisition, Christmas Perfection, now available on Hulu, last season, but if I had it would have easily challenged for, and likely even won, my best-of-2018. (Coincidentally, my selected favorite, Every Other Holiday, was another movie acquired by Lifetime. Whoever was picking these last year, really deserves a raise.)

Perfection’s story of a Christmas junkie transported into her idyll Christmas village was smartly written and great at poking holiday movie tropes, while still being an absolute delight of a Christmas movie in and of itself. So much more fun than this year’s A Christmas Movie Christmas.

Honorable mention in this category goes to the sweet, gentle 2018 animated feature, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, which our entire family enjoyed on Christmas Eve. It’s a very different take than the 1966 special, with the Grinch more misunderstood than truly misanthrope, but it’s one of those sure to grow in popularity in coming seasons.

I also finally watched the 2011, Hallmark favorite-of-many Trading Christmas, and while it won’t enter my personal pantheon of made-for-TV favorites, it certainly highlights how different Hallmark has become in recent years. This G-rated movie actually allowed adults to act like, well, adults, which sounds basic, but is a pretty dramatic difference from what we see on the network today.

Best Holiday Network of 2019

If I could only have access to one content creator for the holiday season—my Desert Island Network—I’d have to pick Netflix, which has a large variety of both originals and classics, and is making some of the most interesting and high quality Christmas content out there. One of things I think is so smart about Netflix’s holiday strategy, is not only are they working to make something to please all types of Christmas fans (cheesy rom-coms, YA, animation, reality, sitcoms and serious foreign fare), but they also continue to release non-holiday stuff throughout November and December. Netflix, unlike others, seems to get that variety really is the spice of life. 

And, the streamer isn’t stopping anytime soon. Netflix already has a full slate of 2020 holiday delights lined up.

An honorable mention goes to Amazon Prime, which has limited original holiday options, but a deep, deep bench of classics, often not available anywhere else, which keep expanding each year. I wish some of these more esoteric options were easier to find on the Prime service, but if you’re willing to dig, there’s more available to watch then you’d find time for in 10 holidays. 

Well, that’s it for the season’s superlatives, now on to my more Grinch-worthy gripes…

Worst Made-for-TV Holiday Movie of 2019

Rarely have two such talented and sparkly actors, including personal favorite Ashley Williams, come together to make something as dull and nonsensical as Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' Holiday Hearts. Even by Hallmark standards this was poorly plotted, badly decorated and with a set-up so stupid even preschoolers were rolling their eyes. Not to mention product placement so glaring, the Balsam Hill boxes were probably higher on the call sheet than poor Paul Campbell.

Not that the awfulness was confined to Hallmark. Netflix produced a real dud with Holiday Rush, made doubly disappointing because everyone involved—Romany Malco, Darlene Love, Deon Cole—are usually very good, plus this was the streamer’s first Black holiday film. Unfortunate failure, to say the least.

Only movies I actually watched all the way through are eligible for this “honor,” so we won’t even discuss the half dozen Hallmark and Lifetime titles I bailed on at the 15 or 20 minute mark, or knew not to even try to watch, but suffice to say it’s clear that the answer to the annual question of if we actually need 121 new Christmas romances a season is a resounding, ‘NO!’

Worst Theatrical Holiday Movie of 2019

If you’d told me in August that I’d be naming Last Christmas as my least-favorite theatrical holiday film of the season, I’d have called you a liar.

As it goes, I didn’t hate this Emilia Clarke-Henry Golding romance, and even  rated theatrical-ish movies Christmas Survival (Released in UK theaters last year as Surviving Christmas with the Relatives) and The Turkey Bowl (day and date limited theatrical and VOD release), well behind Last Christmas, but there was unquestionably no movie I was more disappointed in.

And, while it’s quite possible I could soften on this one with repeat holiday viewings (something that has certainly occurred before), there was no film I was more looking forward to more in 2019, yet I left feeling flat and spent the next few days mentally re-editing Last Christmas to make it all I think it could have been. 

I still adore these actors, particularly Golding and Emma Thompson, as well as director Paul Feig…Just really wish this had been the new holiday classic I’d hoped for, and still feel like it could have been. Last Christmas had all the elements right there, it just didn’t deploy them well. At all. 

Worst Holiday Special of 2019

Sadly, Jordan Peele’s Twilight Zone reboot has had more lows than highs, despite big budgets and great casts, but the Christmas-themed episode, A Traveler, released in April, is a shadow of the far-superior The Monsters are Due on Maple Street it attempts to invoke, making it my least favorite of the season.

That is, if you don’t count the BBC’s A Berry Royal Christmas which is dead boring and utterly unnecessary in every sense—but, since it isn���t yet technically available in the U.S. (though it’s very easy to find, in full, online), I didn’t think it should count. (That’s also why I didn’t officially review it; Though, if I had, it would have received no paws.)

Lastly, if I could have watched more than 10 minutes of the deeply uninteresting, somewhat unsettling and unrelentingly gaudy, Holiday with the Houghs, on NBC, it probably would have danced away with this category. (TL; DR: I disliked it a lot.)

Worst Holiday Series of 2019

I was really looking forward to Netflix’s Merry Happy Whatever. It had a great cast—I’m particularly partial to Dennis Quaid—and I’ve long loved the idea of a holiday-themed sitcom. But, even though it covered much of the same dysfunctional family ground as my favorite this season, The Moodys Christmas, Merry Happy never stopped feeling forced and lifeless. 

A big factor in that was the overwhelming, and never-not-intrusive, laugh track, which ruined whatever slight charm the series might have otherwise offered. The writing also really let down these talented actors, as the jokes were as pained as the canned laughter that followed them.

Worst Holiday Reality Series of 2019

Nickelodon’s Top Elf had the potential to be a holiday-themed Making It for the younger set, but just fell short on every level. Poorly executed and badly cast, this one was a DOA dud.

Speaking of Making It…NBC’s decision to burn off their second season of this charming crafting competition and call it holiday programming really seemed to sell short not only the series as a whole, but the concept, which would have been perfectly poised to pull off a season of holiday-themed challenges, a la ABC’s The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition, now in its 5th season. No idea why NBC can’t make something this delightful a ratings hit, but suspect it’s much more about the network, than the series itself.

Worst New-to-Me Holiday Discovery of 2019

I actually didn’t endure much awful content from yesteryear this season, perhaps because I didn’t find myself with much time to watch content past, thanks to so much new fare on offer.

But I can’t say I much enjoyed the 2006 BBC three-episode, holiday-themed series, The Worst Week of My Life Christmas (2006)—available, along with the show’s two other, non-holiday seasons, on Acorn. The first episode is kind of fun, but the the main character quickly runs the joke of his horrifically bad luck into the ground. His choices are never-not infuriating, plus he has so few redeeming personal qualities it’s hard to imagine why anyone would put up him for an instant, let alone a lifetime. 

The comedy is broad and slapstick and I quickly grew exhausted with both the character and the premise. Hate that Alison Steadman, so lively and fun on Gavin & Stacey, is stuck being the hapless, uptight matriarch here.

Worst Holiday Network of 2019

What’s the flip side of a Desert Island Network? A Demented Island Network, perhaps? Whatever you call it, the one channel I’d hate to be stuck with for the holiday season is now, hands down, the Hallmark Channel. Not only do I seemingly enjoy their new offerings less each year, the utter sameness of the content would drive me batty if I had to watch it non-stop. 

Every new offering on these channels I once really loved now seems so bland, boring and utterly the same I could easily have missed everything they offered in 2019 and been fine with it. It hasn’t always been this way, as there’s been plenty on Hallmark I’ve loved in the past, but the network’s tastes and mine have been diverging for a while now. And that’s without even discussing the channel’s ever more cringe-worthy and backwards politics. 

So, that wraps it up. Congratulations to us all on surviving another holiday viewing season. It sure doesn’t look like 2020 is likely to slow down when it comes to Christmas content, so we’ll see how much longer I can try to keep up, as I’ve been considering at least taking a few steps back from this hobby that’s somehow morphed into an unpaid side job.

 Whatever the New Year brings, here are cheers to you and yours in 2020.  

[chpkns]

BEST ALBUMS 2018

Ok here we go again for 2018, shall we?

Hon. Mentions: Negro Swan - Blood Orange; Singularity - Jon Hopkins; Elsewhere - Ryan Hemsworth; Scorpion - Drake; Diplomatic Ties - The Diplomats; Some Rap Songs - Earl Sweatshirt; FM! - Vince Staples; Rally Cry - Arkells; I’m All Ears - Let’s Eat Grandma; Be The Cowboy - Mitski; Kamikaze - Eminem; Ye - Kanye West; KIDS SEE GHOSTS - Kanye West and Kid Cudi; Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino - Arctic Monkeys; Black Panther: The Album - Kendrick Lamar, et al; KOD - J. Cole; Culture II - Migos; Hive Mind - The Internet; God’s Favorite Customer - Father John Misty; Blood - Rhye; Both Ways - Donovan Woods; Songs of the Plains - Colter Wall

10) Swimming - Mac Miller

This one was tough. Malcolm James McCormick’s fifth studio album was barely out three months before he left us. It’s hard to evaluate Swimming in isolation of Miller’s untimely death at age 26. Especially since, in my mind, the album represents something of a turning point for the former frat rapper. Recorded in the wake of Miller’s high profile breakup with Ariana Grande and in the midst of public struggles with addiction, Swimming is full of heartache and soul bearing self-reflection. Sonically, Mac’s airy raps and crooning vocals float over jazzy beats and orchestral accompaniments, with help from Thundercat and Dev Hynes. There’s room for fun as well amid the melancholy - the more upbeat Ladders and What’s the Use? are sure enough to keep a dance floor moving. The worst thing about Swimming is really how good it is, and how it felt like Mac Miller was on the cusp on something great we’ll now never see. 

Highlights: Self Care, What’s The Use?, 2009, Ladders

9) QUARTERTHING - Joey Purp

Chance the Rapper’s Savemoney compatriot Joey Purp is like a breath of fresh air. QUARTERTHING’s 14 tracks, most clocking in at under 3 minutes, come fast and furious like Purp’s (mostly) un-autotuned flow. Joey’s full throated, almost Meek-Mill-esque, delivery gives the album a mixtape-like authenticity - notwithstanding the varied and expert production from the likes of RZA, Knox Fortune and frequent Chance collaborator Nate Fox. The opening 24k Gold/Sanctified, and Hallelujah just two tracks later, feel downright celebratory pairing Purp’s flow behind a blaring big band sound. Others, like Look At My Wrist and Paint Thinner, are Chicago Drill and house inspired, feeling like they’d be right at home in a sweaty club basement. Lyrically, Purp is a classic hip-hop storyteller and street documentarian, drawing from experiences in a former life selling drugs and the violence of his home city. This impressive studio album debut is more than enough to solidify Joey Purp’s place among an exciting new generation of Chicago rappers.

Highlights: 24k Gold/Sanctified (ft. Ravyn Lenae & Jack Red), Godbody (ft. RZA) [Pt. 2], Hallelujah, Look At My Wrist (ft. Cdot Honcho), Karl Malone

8) Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves

Kacey Musgraves is clearly in the pantheon of artists that can’t release an album without it making this list (I rated Pageant Material #8 in 2015 and Same Trailer, Different Park #9 in 2013... both criminally underrated in retrospect). Musgraves continued to be a revelation with her third album. There was a great Ezra Koenig quote last year, where he talked about seeing Musgraves’ concert and being inspired by the clarity of her music: “from the first verse, you knew who was singing, who they were singing to, what kind of situation they were in”. On Golden Hour, she maintains that clarity, stretching a little more outside the traditional country sound into pop and disco-inspired melodies. I do miss the dry humour and rebellious spirit of the previous two Musgraves outings, I’ll admit. You won’t find any overt weed references here, but Kacey finds plenty of ways to remind us how few fucks she gives about the Nashville country establishment. Golden Hour also shows off some of Musgraves’ strongest songwriting to date - the sprawling Space Cowboy stands out as one of the best singles of the year in any genre. I’m probably in the minority in thinking Golden Hour is not my favourite Kacey Musgraves album, but it’s still one of my favourite albums of 2018.

Highlights: Slow Burn, Space Cowboy, High Horse, Love is a Wild Thing

7) Lush - Snail Mail

It’s about to become clear that there is a “women in indie rock” movement happening on this year’s list. The debut album from 18 year old singer-songwriter Lindsey Jordan is one of the most aptly titled records of 2018. Lush’s indie rock soundscapes are just that. Loud, full and richly textured. Jordan’s crystal clear vocals soar and float above her ringing guitar chords and riffs. The songwriting is perhaps what you’d expect from an 18 year old, full of heartbreak, confusion and teen angst. She does it well though. As the first chorus builds on Heat Wave, Jordan’s voice builds: “And I hope whoever it is Holds their breath around you, 'Cause I know I did”. The album’s standout track for me is Full Control which crescendos to a refrain of: “I'm in full control, I'm not lost, Even when it's love, Even when it's not.” At the same time, Lush exudes a maturity and a nostalgia that hearkens back to Snail Mail’s spiritual predecessors like Cat Power or Fiona Apple. Snail Mail was one of many reasons that 2018 gave me hope that there’s a future for indie rock and “guitar music” generally. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what’s next.

Highlights: Pristine, Full Control, Deep Sea, Heat Wave

6) boygenius EP - boygenius

The only thing that ever held me back from including boygenius on this list was my long held view that “an EP is not an album”. Well, since Kanye decided that 7 songs can be an “album” why not 6? Any album that has 6 songs as good as the 6 on boygenius EP would make this list! boygenius is the indie “supergroup” made up of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and the holder of last year’s #3 album on this list, Julien Baker - all accomplished solo acts in their own right. Predictably, the whole is something greater than the sum of its parts. boygenius EP’s six songs are a tour de force amalgam of indie, country and folk (owing to the band’s cross-genre Nashville and Viriginia roots) full of raw emotion and grit. Dacus, Bridgers and Baker seem made to perform, and sing, together. The harmonies on this record make boygenius sound like an indie rock iteration of Destiny’s Child or an edgier, less twangy version of the Dixie Chicks. The songs do not hold back, with high highs and low lows. On Me & My Dog, the soaring chorus evokes an escapist dream: “I wish I was on a spaceship, Just me and my dog and an impossible view”. The emotional highpoint of the record might be Baker and Bridgers’ chorus on Salt in the Wound apexing with: “I’m gnashing my teeth, Like a child of Cain, If this is a prison I’m willing to buy my own chain”. I can’t stop watching live videos of these three - they seem so at home onstage together. As excited as I’d be to see boygenius become more than a side project, I’m equally excited to see what’s next for Bridgers, Dacus and Baker on their own.

Highlights: Me & My Dog, Stay Down, Salt In the Wound, Ketchum ID

5) DAYTONA - Pusha T

YUGH! Amid Kanye’s unhinged tweets, messy, disorganized projects, and Oval Office visits, DAYTONA, the 7 track album he entirely produced for G.O.O.D. Music veteran Pusha T, was one thing that gave us hope that Kanye hadn’t completely lost his touch (or his mind) in 2018. DAYTONA showcases both producer Kanye and King Push at the absolute peak of their talents. It’s amazing, in this era of Xanax-fuelled mumblerap, to think how long we’ve been listening to Kanye and Push do their thing. Lord Willin’ introduced the world to Pusha T in 2002 (alongside his brother Malice, as he then was, as the iconic rap duo Clipse). The College Dropout came out two years later. I still remember buying the CDs and wearing out my discman with both of them. It’s easy to forget that Kanye and Terrence “King Push” Thornton are both 41 years old! There’s something refreshing about two guys in their forties still being able to make a banging rap record about selling drugs and buying expensive shit. Push said DAYTONA was made “for my family...high taste level, luxury, drug raps fans.”  Those fans are well served by DAYTONA. After the beat comes in on album opener If You Know You Know, Push sounds like he’s speaking directly to his day one fans, raising a styrofoam cup to: “This thing of ours, oh, this thing of ours”. The album exudes the bravado of an MC on top of his game confident in the knowledge that he’s spitting bars on a classic. And we can’t forget the incendiary Infrared, the song that touched off a vicious beef between Pusha T and rap’s biggest star, Drake, ending after Push revealed in a diss track that Drake was hiding his son from the world. Almost 20 years on, Pusha T is still ready to go war, still “clickin’ like Golden State” and still wearing the crown as King Push. Long may he reign.

Highlights: If You Know You Know, The Games We Play, Hard Piano (ft. Rick Ross), Infrared

4) Honey - Robyn

I found myself slightly disappointed in Honey at first, largely because my expectations for Robyn’s first album in eight years were based on the high energy electro-pop brilliance of 2010′s Body Talk. What I should have realized is that, if Robyn were going to make another Body Talk, she wouldn’t have kept us waiting this long. Honey is not Body Talk - you won’t find another Call Your Girlfriend or Dancing on My Own among its nine silky smooth tracks. But it is no less brilliant. If I can forget that Beach2k20 exists for a second, it feels pretty darn close to a perfect album. Honey betrays a lighter touch for Robyn, perhaps more in tune with the sound of the moment. A little more euro house and disco tinged, Honey furthers the Swedish songstress’s long evolution away from the pop idol of her late 90′s past. Honey still embodies Robyn’s signature juxtaposition of electronic dance rhythms alongside themes of sadness, loneliness and heartbreak. And songs like Honey and Missing U can still light up any dancefloor. The highlight for me is the slow-building Send to Robin Immediately, which just swells over its Lil Louis sample as Robyn urges the listener into action: “If you got something to say, say it right away. If you got something to do, do what's right for you. If you got somebody to love, give that love today. Know you got nothing to lose, there's no time to waste”. In between albums, and while writing Honey, Robyn lived through the death of a longtime collaborator and a breakup and reunion with a romantic partner. The emotional toll of these experiences seem to shine through. Robyn told the BBC’s Annie Mac earlier this year: “When I wrote this album I think I was quite tired of myself writing sad love songs, but I did anyway and looking back on that now, I think it's OK for things to be sad. Combining it with something that's bright and strong and powerful is a way of finding your way out of the sadness.” 

Highlights: Missing U, Human Being (ft. Zhala), Send to Robin Immediately, Honey

3) Clean - Soccer Mommy

Clean, the impressive debut album from 20 year old Nashville singer-songwriter Sophie Allison, was the first album I heard this year that I 100% knew would be on this list. By the time Your Dog hits at the third track, I was completely enthralled. That song is so goddamn rock and roll with Allison sparing no mercy for the subject shitty boyfriend of the opening verse: “I don't wanna be your fucking dog, That you drag around, A collar on my neck tied to a pole, Leave me in the freezing cold”. Elsewhere, on Still Clean, Allison plays with gruesome animalistic imagery singing of an ex-lover picking her “out your bloody teeth”. There is a warmer side to Clean as well. Scorpio Rising, with it’s “bubbly and sweet like Coca-Cola” softness and lyrics about meeting up after dark and missed calls from your mother definitely remind you that Allison is a self-professed devotee of Taylor Swift’s early work (which should give you another idea of why I love this album). Speaking of T-Swift, the rollicking Last Girl almost mirrors You Belong With Me in describing the crushing insecurity of comparing oneself to a new partner’s ex, somehow pulling off lyrics like “I want to be like your last girl, She's the sun in your cold world and, I am just a dying flower, I don't hold the summer in my eyes” as if that were a totally normal thing to say. Beneath the upbeat riff of Cool, where Allison idolizes the cool girl “with a heart of coal, She’ll break you down and eat you whole” is the understanding that being that person won’t bring her the happiness she seeks. Acceptance of one’s emotions and insecurities is the core theme of Clean - that “You gon’ be like that” (as Allison put it to the Fader) and you’ll be happier once you accept you for you. In many ways, Clean evokes a similar vibe to the Snail Mail and boygenius entries further up this year’s list, as a scrappy “girl with a guitar” indie record and a tongue-in-cheek stage name. That sense of charming honesty is what, I think, makes Clean stand above the other entries on this list.

Highlights: Cool, Your Dog, Last Girl, Scorpio Rising

2) Lamp Lit Prose - Dirty Projectors

The first of our top two is another repeat offender on this list (a previous incarnation of the Projectors’ Swing Lo Magellan had #7 back in 2012 and last year’s eponymous Dirty Projectors was my 2017 #8). I loved every minute of Lamp Lit Prose - it’s almost a 1B for me on this list and was pencilled in at 1 for a time in the drafting process. This album has everything that was good about last year’s DPs record but is, ultimately, tighter, more fun, less weird and less sad. Dave Longstreth appears to have moved on (at least musically) from the emotions he was working through on Dirty Projectors, which was essentially an extended meditation on the breakup of his relationship with Amber Coffman and the band’s upheaval. With Lamp Lit Prose, his “new look” Dirty Projectors (with help from friends like Syd, Rostam and HAIM) have put together something a little more traditional (by Dirty Projectors standards) and a lot more listenable. Longstreth told Exclaim that this album, compared its morose predecessor, “is really about feeling hope again, finding the things that give us hope, that make us feel optimistic and joyful.” Lamp Lit Prose falls somewhere between the twangly, jam band atmosphere of the Projector’s Swing Lo Magellan and Bitte Orca heyday and the more experimental, electronic-infused vibe of the Dirty Projectors released 18 months prior. Longstreth’s guitar riffs are again front and centre, but the voice modulation and distorted electronic sounds are still there, albeit in a more subtle way. Four part harmonies bounce over the jazzy melodies and hopeful lyrics. Where he was mourning a lost love on the last record, here we see Longstreth “in love for the first time ever” on I Found It In U (a salvaged beat from his work on Solange’s last album). On Break Thru, the un-named romantic subject is held up as “an epiphany” with comparisons in quick succession to Archimedes, Fellini and Julian Casablancas. The horn-backed chorus on What Is The Time is the high point of the record for me - the kind of song that makes you want to raise your voice and join in on the hook. All in all, it’s just great to hear this band making fun music again. Lamp Lit Prose is upbeat, creative and simply a joy to listen to. I absolutely loved this album... but just not quite enough to edge out our number 1.

Highlights: Break-Thru, That’s a Lifestyle, I Found It In U, What Is The Time

1) ASTROWORLD - Travis Scott

IT’S LIT!!! I would have never predicted that a Travis Scott album would land here at number 1, but here we are. And I feel good about it. ASTROWORLD dominated my listening from its mid-summer release onward and, with each spin, I became increasingly convinced of its greatness. Travis is an artist that I’ve long found perplexing. Insanely popular among his legions of young fans, he embodies so much of the “new rap” ethos, the first genre of music where I’ve started to feel like I might be ‘too old’ to enjoy it. It was clear on his prior outings, Rodeo and Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, that the talent and creativity was there, but the overall product always seemed messy, disorganized, unpolished. With ASTROWORLD, Scott finally has made his Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The album is named for a former Six Flags theme park in Scott’s hometown of Houston that was torn down a decade ago and still sits vacant. Previewing the title of the album, Scott told GQ last year: "They tore down AstroWorld to build more apartment space. That's what it's going to sound like, like taking an amusement park away from kids. We want it back. We want the building back. That's why I'm doing it. It took the fun out of the city." True to his word, the album’s 17 tracks are tied together by an overarching creepy, grimy sound. Listening to ASTROWORLD feels like walking through an abandoned theme park. Even more impressive is how Travis, as curator of the album’s varied guest list, bends the star studded guest appearances to his will, fitting them in perfectly to his dank sonic menagerie. The likes of Frank Ocean, the Weeknd, Swae Lee, Tame Impala and James Blake don’t overpower Scott’s vision but blend into the scenery, their talents employed perfectly by Travis in the role of ringmaster. Newcomers get some shine too, like Scott’s Cactus Jack labelmate Sheck Wes who gets a guest verse on NO BYSTANDERS and a shoutout to his ubiquitous single from Travis on 5% TINT: “We did some things out on the ways that we can't speak, All I know it was "Mo Bamba" on repeat”. And then, there’s SICKO MODE. Why is it that the best Drake song each year invariably comes from someone else’s album, even in a year where Drizzy himself releases a double album? The ASTROWORLD track list, at least initially, left out the featured artists, so hearing Drake’s voice over the opening notes of the album’s third track was the first time most listeners had any indication that the 6ixgod himself would be making an appearance. What a wonderful surprise it turns out to be. SICKO MODE, the album’s best track, feels like three or four different songs as the beat changes form and Travis and Drake pass the mic back and forth. The song’s Tay Keith produced final act (the “out like a light” part) is for my money the best two minutes of hip hop music made in 2018. ASTROWORLD succeeds on its grandeur, vision and consistency. Travis Scott set out to build something big and from the moment the bass kicks in on STARGAZING through to the mellow, string backed denouement of COFFEE BEAN, he succeeds at every turn. ASTROWORLD was 2018′s biggest, most creative, most sonically consistent and most fun album in hip-hop. In my estimation, it’s the best album of the year.

Highlights: STARGAZING, CAROUSEL (ft. Frank Ocean), SICKO MODE (ft. Drake, Swae Lee and Big Hawk), WAKE UP (ft. The Weeknd), CAN’T SAY (ft. Don Toliver)

That’s all folks. Thanks for reading and see ya in 2019.