Saturday, October 28, 2023

ThisSmallPlanet.com: Best Music of 2023

(UPDATED: December 30, 2023)

BEST TWO DOZEN (OR SO) SINGLES OF 2023

A. Savage. "Elvis In The Army". Solo effort of Andrew S, one of Parquet Courts' two singer/guitarist/songwriters. Cool song.


The Beatles. "Now & Then". "New" Beatles song based on a 1978 John Lennon solo demo. Intended for release in 1995 on the Beatles Anthology but unreleased officially until now. Pretty good.

Blur. "St. Charles Square". A return to form for Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, and Co.

Billy Bragg. "Rich Men Earning North of a Million" Answer song to "Rich Men North of Richmond"

Big Thief. "I Was Born For Loving You" & "Vampire Empire" They performed "Vampire Empire" a little differently live on Colbert a few months earlier.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy. "Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You". Title song of his new album, previously unreleased out-take (it wasn't on the album).

Brittany Howard. "What Now". Cool, Retro sounds.

Don Letts. "Out of Sync". Black British OG, friends with Bob Marley & Joe Strummer, member of B.A.D. with Mick Jones, shot many of The Clash videos. Got a song to sing. From his debut album.


Dropkick Murphys. "Gotta Get To Peekskill" (feat. Violent Femmes). Archival lyrics by Woody Guthrie about a 1949 confrontation with the KKK in Peekskill, New York. An earlier concert by activist Paul Robeson was disrupted by the local KKK, veterans, and American Legion "patriots". Leftists rallied to protect a second concert, but were menaced by a crazed right-wing mob who attacked concert-goers as they left. They threw rocks at a car that held Guthrie, Pete Seeger, his wife Toshi, and their young children. Woody wrote a song about it. Pete used some of the rocks thrown at them to build his new fireplace.

Glen Hansard. "The Feast Of St. John". Good song. Very impressed by his performance with Lisa O'Neill of The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" at Shane MacGowan's funeral in December.

Grian Chatten. "Fairlies". Fontaine D.C. frontman's outstanding solo album. This cool new song was the second single from the album. The first single was "The Score".

J Mascis. "Can't Believe We're Here".

Kurt Vile. "Another Good Year For The Roses"

Lana Del Rey.  "A&W". Simply great (if you're a fan). Also "Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd", where Lana name-checks the late, great Harry Nilsson and Rob Grant's "Lost At Sea" feat Lana Del Rey. (Lana's a guest vocalist on her piano player father's song.)

The Libertines. "Run Run Run" Return to form. Great.

Mannequin Pussy. "I Got Heaven". Powerful.

MJ Lenderman.  "Knockin'" & his other band Wednesday. "Chosen To Deserve"

Queens Of The Stone Age. "Emotion Sickness". 

Phoebe Bridgers. "Waiting Room" (Deep cut re-released) and Rob Moose feat Phoebe Bridgers. "Wasted". Phoebe's been performing this song in concert, but this is the first recorded version of it.



Sparks. "Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is" & "The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte" (the video, above, features Cate Blanchett) from everyone's favorite demented genius brothers.

                                           The late Evan Richardson & partner Sufjan Stevens at the 2018 Oscars

Sufjan Stevens. "Will Anybody Ever Love Me?". Great song!

Ty Segall. "Void" & "Eggman" & "My Room"

Yard Act. "Dream Job".  & "The Trench Coat Museum"



HONORABLE MENTION: TOP SINGLES OF 2023

Andrea Prichett. "The Avenue". This kind, insightful Berkeley educator/artist/activist has been a friend since the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s. Here's her take on Berkeley's famed Telegraph Avenue. Available on Bandcamp.

Andrew Bird. "Mo Teef"

Bonny Doon. "Let There Be Music"


                                                                  boygenius on Saturday Night Live

boygenius (Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker) "The Parting Glass"

The Breeders (feat J Mascis). "Divine Mascis". Version of "Divine Hammer" from Last Splash. Previously unreleased and pretty cool.

Bully. "Days Move Slow"

Bush Tetras. "Things I Put Together". Punk vets reunite for cool new album. Here's the first single.

Car Seat Headrest. "We Looked Like Giants". (Death Cab For Cutie cover).

Devendra Banhart. "Sirens"

Gene Clark & Carla Olson. "Set You Free This Time"

Idles. "Dancer" (feat vocals by LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy & Nancy Whang)

Jolie Holland. "Highway 72" feat Buck Meek

Jon Batiste. "Life Lesson" feat Lana Del Rey

Johnny Marr. "Somewhere". The Smiths' guitar wizard releases a new song.

Kurt Vile. This Time of Night" (Chastity Belt cover)

The Lemonheads. "Fear Of Living"

Lord Huron. "Ace Up My Sleeve" (The Sterling Girl soundtrack)

Mary Timony. "Dominoes"

Peter Gabriel. "Panopticom" (Bright Side Mix feat Brian Eno) & "The Court". 

PJ Harvey. "A Child's Question, August" 

Porno For Pyros. "Agua"

Prince. "7 E Flat Version" & "All A Share Together Now". Two songs from Prince's vault.

Scream. "DC Sha La La". Punk vets return. They will rock you.

Sharon Van Etten. "Close To You" (feat Courtney Barnett) from the TV show The Buccaneers

Sturgill Simpson (AKA Brother Marshall & The Choir of Fire)."All The Gold In California" (Gatlin Bros. cover for "The Righteous Gemstones")

Tinariwen. "Kek Alghalm" New album at the end of May. This is the 2nd single.

Ustad Noor Bakhsh. "Tor Sor" (Pakistani traditional Benju player)

Wilco. "Evicted" & "Ten Dead"

Y La Bamba. "Dibujos De Mi Alma".


BEST DOZEN ALBUMS (OR SO) OF 2023

Black Puma. Chronicles of a Diamond. Cool album.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You. Soothing acoustic sounds.

Dropkick Murphys. Okemah Rising. Follow-up to last year's This Machine Still Kills Fascists, this also uses archival Woody Guthrie lyrics matched with contemporary tunes by Dropkick Murphys. Besides the killer single "Gotta Get To Peekskill" (feat. The Violent Femmes), there's a re-working (the "Tulsa Version") of Dropkick Murphys' original "collaboration" with Woody Guthrie's archives, "I'm Shipping Up To Boston", as first seen in Martin Scorsese's 2002 film Gangs Of New York.

Grian Chatten. Chaos For The Fly. Fontaines D.C. frontman's debut solo album. Change of pace from the band's heavy sound. One of the surprise hits of summer. Fontaines D.C. spent the summer touring with Arctic Monkeys, adding Chilli Jesson (ex-Palma Violets) to the touring band on bass and backing vocals. (See their recent performance at KCRW above.) We also liked Fontaines D.C. Skinty Fia Go Deo. A deluxe version of their 2022 release Skinny Fia, feat demos, a live song, an Orbital remix, and two covers, including U2's "One" (which Johnny Cashsang a memorable version of). The uncluttered takes reveal the strength of vocalist Grian Chatten's singing which sometimes gets buried in the heaviness of the band's sound. On Grian's solo album, feat the single "The Score", we heard his voice, unencumbered, as if for the first time. 

Kristin Hersh. Clear Pond Road. Very cool album. I liked her recent 50 Foot Wave effort. This is completely different but just as good.

Lana Del Rey. Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. She's the best.

Paul Simon. Seven Psalms. Very, very good.

Rufus Wainwright. Folkocracy. Strong album we didn't expect. Good takes on some cool classics.

Sufjan Stevens. Javelin. Powerful songs written during the illness and subsequent death of Sufjan's partner Evan Richardson. So private, so personal, shared with the world. UPDATE: Just found 5 Unreleased Songs, apparently outtakes, also very cool.

Toro Y Moi. Sandhills (EP). Folky. Complete departure from the recent funky soulful Mahal. I love it.

Wednesday. Rat Saw God and their guitarist MJ Lenderman's live album with his other band The Wind, And the Wind (Live and Loose!) are both worth considering and let's consider them together. They announce a major new talent, Mr. Lenderman, knocking on our door.

Various Artists. Playing For The Man At The Door: Field Recordings From Mack McCormick, 1958-1971. Feat. Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, and other classic recordings by the infamous late blues documentarian Mack McCormick, who had a hellhound on his trail. 


HONORABLE MENTION: TOP ALBUMS OF 2023

A. Savage. Several Songs About Fire. Second solo album from Andrew of Parquet Courts. His first solo album was very good and this one is even better, Quite a change of pace from Parquet Court's often manic style. Deep and reflective, like a pool in a Zen garden. 

Andre 3000. New Blue Sun. An all-instrumental flute-based album? Don't knock it before you try it...

Baaba Maal. Being. Africa's finest.

Blur. The Ballad Of Darren. Out-takes "Sticks And Stones", "The Rabbi" & "The Swan" also out now

Bob Dylan. Shadow Kingdom. The soundtrack of last year's concert film of the same name. Dylan reworks some of his all-time classics.

Bonny Doon. Let There Be Music. Former backing band for Waxahatchee steps out on their own.

boygenius. the record and The Rest EP. Supergroup featuring Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus & Julien Baker. 

Buck Meek. Haunted Mountain. Big Thief's guitarist's third solo album. Very good.

Bully. Lucky For You. Rock n roll. 

Car Seat Headrest. Faces From the Masquerade. Live album.

Dhani Harrison. Innerstanding. Interesting, unique, intriguing.

Don Letts. Outta Sync. Soul song of a veteran Black British punk reggae warrior. His debut album.

Glen Hansard. All That Was East Is West Of Me Now. I liked the first single, "The Feast Of St. John" a lot. I hoped that the rest of the album would follow suit, and it does. Not all the songs are in the aggressive style as "Feast", but they all have both a gravitas and a lightness that we find appealing.

Iron & Wine. Who Can See Forever Soundtrack (Live)

Jane Remover. Census Designated.

Jeff Rosenstock. Hellmode. Strong effort of melodic powerful punk with a lot of heart.

Joanna Sternberg. I've Got Me. Brilliant.

Johnny Marr. Spirit Power: The Best of Johnny Marr. An overview of The Smiths' guitarists illustrious solo career, featuring two new songs: "Somewhere" and "The Answer".

The Kills. God Games.

Kurt Vile. Back To Moon Beach (EP)

Laura Veirs. Phone Orphans.

Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives. Altitude. He played on the recent tour of The Byrds' Sweetheart Of The Rodeo and this album seems to be a reflection on The Byrds' legacy.

Mitski. The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We. Great! Very cool album of... "dream pop"... says here....

Peter Gabriel. I/O 

                                                     PJ Harvey's Tiny Desk Concert

PJ Harvey. I Inside The Old Year Dying. 

Quasi. Breaking the Balls of History. Pleasantly surprised how good this is.

Queens Of The Stone Age. In Times New Roman... Another classic from QOTSA....

Robyn Hitchcock. Life After Infinity. Another instant classic.

Sarah Mary Chadwick. Messages To God. Worth listening to.

Sparklehorse. Bird Machine. Strong posthumous album from Mark Linkous. We wish he were here, but are grateful to hear these last songs. Reminds us of why we liked him in the first place.

Sparks. The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte. Pure Pop Classic!

Speedy Ortiz. Rabbit Rabbit. Great. Breakthrough album?

Titus Andronicus. Basement Brainstorm

Various Artists. Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and The Gambia. Excellent collection featuring an African forerunner of the banjo. An important document.

Wreckless Eric. Leisureland. Very strong album.

Yo La Tengo. This Stupid World. Fantastic new album from these beloved indie vets. Check it out. Also, a late addition: The Bunker Sessions (EP)

Yungchen Lhamo. Awakening. Stunning Tibetan singer's new album perfect for meditating, relaxing, and reflecting.



BEST DOZEN (OR SO) ARCHIVAL RELEASES OF 2023

The Beatles. The Red (1962 -1966) and Blue (1967 - 1970) Albums. The first Beatles recordings I had were the Red & Blue "greatest hits" collections, on cassette, and I suspect many people were introduced to The Fabs through these compilations. The new improved versions are great and worth checking out.

Billy Bragg. The Roaring Forty (1983 - 2023). There's a 2 CD version of this Bragg retrospective, but also a 14 CD Super Deluxe version for the super fans. A fitting tribute to one of the brightest political singers of our time.

Bob Dylan. Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17 (5-CD Deluxe Edition) and The Complete Budokan 1978. Both are fantastic!

The Clash. London Calling (Expanded Edition). A good excuse to go back and listen to this classic album, along with the rehearsal recording The Vanilla Tapes (1979).

Iggy Pop. Rare Trax. Alternate versions of some the classics including "China Girl" and "Lust For Life".

Mississippi Fred McDowell. Jesus On The Mainline. Two live shows: April 14, 1971 in Tacoma and November 5, 1971 at the Gaslight in New York City (Fred's final recording). Seminal.

Nirvana. In Utero. (30th Anniversary Super Deluxe). The original album plus over 50 live tracks and a few outtakes and B-sides.

Steely Dan. The Record Plant 1974 Live. Their best period?

Steve Miller Band. J50: The Evolution Of The Joker (Deluxe) and At The Record Plant 1973 (live in the studio). Fantastic!

Thin Lizzy. Vagabonds Of The Western World (Deluxe Edition)

The Who. Who's Next: Life House (Super Deluxe). Ten discs of music plus a DVD... sounds a little overwhelming! It was meant to be another rock opera but became Who's Next instead. We can now sort through the rubble and picture what a pretty building it would have been. Also from The Who, Back At The Fillmore (1969). Great.



HONORABLE MENTION: TOP ARCHIVAL RELEASES OF 2023

Big Joe Williams. Back To The Roots. Big Joe Got The Blues. And he wants to give them to you.

Billie Holiday. Live in Los Angeles 1946. Simply great.

Bob Dylan & The Rolling Thunder Revue. New Orleans 1976 Soundboard. Classic. Dylan + Mick Robson + Joan Baez + Roger McGuinn

Cheap Trick. Live At The Whiskey 1977.

Dandy Livingstone. "Rudy A Message To You" (1967). The original. 

David Bowie. "Looking For A Friend" (1971).

David Bowie. Ziggy's Last Stand. Live.

David Bowie. Dutch Courage. Live.

Devo. 50 Years of De-Evolution 1973–2023.

Donovan. "Barabajagal" (1969) feat Jeff Beck on guitar, Groovy.

Elvis Presley. Las Vegas Hilton Presents Elvis - Opening Night 1972.

Faces. Sit Down, Get Up, Get Out (Live 1971) feat Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Ronnie Laine, Kenney Jones, and Ian McLagan.

Heatmiser. The Music Of Heatmiser. Elliot Smith's alternative rock band from before. 

Hüsker Dü. Tonight Longhorn. Early live shows.

Howlin' Wolf. Live In Bremen 1964.

James Cotton. Harvard Square Blues (Live Cambridge '74). Harmonica master live in concert.

James Gang. Everything Is Hazy (Live, Paris '71). Feat. Joe Walsh future guitarist for The Eagles doing the classic "Walk Away" and never sounding better.

Jeff Beck. "Shape Of Things" (1968). RIP Jeff Beck at his best here with Rod Stewart & Ron Wood.

Jimi Hendrix. Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At The Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967

John Coltrane. Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy. (1961)

Kak. Kak-Ola (1968). Psychedelic classic. Gary Lee Yoder went on to play with Blue Cheer.

The Kinks. Mojo 2023.05: The Kinks (A 60th Anniversary Sampler). Compiled by the surviving original members: Ray Davies (voice), his brother Dave Davies (guitar) & Mick Avory (drum). Included with Mojo Magazine: Issue #354 (May 2023). A very interesting sampler featuring some of their best lesser known and overlooked songs.

The Kinks. The Journey Pt. 2

Malvina Reynolds. Magical Songs.

Michael Bloomfield. Living In The Fast Lane (Expanded Edition)(1981). One of the best guitarists ever just hanging out and playing songs.

Neil Young. Chrome Dreams.

Neutral Milk Hotel. Everything Is (EP). Some of the first songs Neutral Milk Hotel recorded. They just released a box set and this 7-song expanded EP is part of that project. A good excuse to revisit Neutral Milk Hotel.

Nina Simone. You've Got To Learn. (Live Newport Jazz Festival 1966)

Paul McCartney. The 7" Singles. So nice to hear Paul solo classics like: "Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey", "Give Ireland Back To The Irish", "Hi, Hi, Hi", "Live And Let Die", "Jet", "Helen Wheels", "Let Me Roll It", "Band On The Run", and "Mull Of Kintyre".

Ray Anderson. "Joe Stalin Kicked The Bucket" [Kentucky 573] c. 1954 45 RPM. A novelty song for the ages.

Sister O.M. Terrell. Sister O.M. Terrell.  Reminds me of Memphis Minnie and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. 

Soft Machine. The Dutch Lesson.


The Specials. "Message To You Rudy" (1979). Terry Hall, Rest In Peace.


Various Artists. Before Bob Dylan: 100 Songs. Stunning collection of some of the folk, blues, gospel, country and rock traditional artists who influenced Bob Dylan inc. Woody Guthrie, Reverend Gary Davis, Lead Belly, Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, and Memphis Minnie.

The Velvet Underground. Le Bataclan '72. A one-off reunion concert in Paris in 1972 feat Lou Reed, Nico, and John Cale.

The Who. Sleep On The Beach (live) and 

Concertgebouw Amsterdam 1969 (live). Great. And also Live At Leeds (1970). Some say it's the beat live album ever.



Forthcoming Highly Anticipated Releases

The Vaccines. Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations. [Super Easy] January 12, 2024

Sleater-Kinney. Little Rope [Loma Vista] January 19, 2024

Ty Segall. Three Bells. [Drag City] January 26, 2024

Anna Calvi. Peaky Blinders: Season 5 (Original Score) [Domino Soundtracks] January 26, 2024

Anna Calvi & Nick Launay. Peaky Blinders: Season 6 (Original Score) [Domino Soundtracks] January 26, 2024

Gruff Rhys. Sadness Sets Me Free [Rough Trade] January 26, 2024

J. Mascis. What We Do Now [Sub Pop] February 2, 2024

Brittany Howard. What Now. [Island] February 2, 2024

Paul McCartney & Wings. Band on the Run (Underdubbed Mixes) [MPL/UMe] February 2, 2024

Idles. Tangk. [Partisan], February 16, 2024. 

MGMT. Loss Of Life. [Mom + Pop], February 23, 2024

Mary Timony. Untame The Tiger. [Merge]. February 23, 2024.

Yard Act. Where's My Utopia? [Island] March 1, 2024.

Fontaines DC, Massive Attack, Young Fathers. Ceasefire EP [Battle Box] See Bandcamp. March 1, 2024.

The Libertines. All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade [Casablanca/Republic] March 8, 2024

Peter Garrett. The True North. [Sony] March 15, 2024. Solo effort for Midnight Oil's frontman, a unique and energetic Australian activist and singer.

Waxahatchee. Tiger’s Blood. [Anti-] March 22, 2024. The first single is "Right Back To It" feat MJ Lenderman (of Wednesday) on guitar and harmony vocals.

             "All Of The People", Grian Chatten, live solo acoustic at Maida Vale

         
                                            TOP MUSIC STORIES OF 2023



                                        Dylan at Farm Aid 2013 with Tom Petty's Heartbreakers
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