Come 2 a.m. on July 3/4, the binge begins again as we dive into 1985 in Hawkins, Indiana. All your favorites are growing up. This season will cover the summer of 1985, so look for conflict, carnivals, mall jobs and quite likely some Hall & Oates, Tears For Fears, and Simple Minds.
Hawkins being in the heartland of America we are also likely to have some Bruce Springsteen and Indiana's own John Cougar Mellencamp. And who knows with college radio about to experience its heyday and hip-hop taking off, who knows what they will sneak in.
BTS
Lights/Boy With Luv
(CD/DVD)(UME)
It is the rare triple release from K-Pop superstars BTS. With their first No. 1 debut, 30 million streams a month and every song from "BTSWorld" (coming to CD Aug. 2) in Spotify's current Top 100 tracks, their single is being issued on CD, CD with a DVD with the music videos and a CD with a DVD of the making of those videos.
RECAP OF 2019
(a/k/a Aural Fireworks)
2019 has been quite the year for music. The groundswell of music seems to have reached a controlled peak. If anything, artists are probably fighting more for press than actual listeners.
Seventeen-year old Billie Eilish continues to be the most consistent new artist in quite some time. Her album, "When We All Fall Asleep," singlehandedly beat back all the pop females and took in critics (the dean Robert Christgau gave it a solid A). "Bad Guy" peaked at least No. 2 or No. 1 in 10 countries. Watching Eilish handle press, touring and the newfound world of celebrity, shows that Eilish still has a lot more to bring us.
The flipside belongs to Lil Nas X, who while couch-surfing at his sister's house sampled a little Trent Reznor and 30$ later shook up the calendar year. While his "7" EP does not live up to the promise of "Old Town Road" (which appears on it twice), his humility and genuine earnestness (performing for elementary school kids, buying Billy Ray Cyrus a Lamborghini) will hopefully bring forth something more creative in the future.
The real story of Lil Nas X was country radio's continuance to lop off new voices and ideas in favor of following a more straightforward course. The good news is that following Kacey Musgraves triple-crown victories (CMA, ACM and Grammy) opened the door slightly for other female artists.
Maren Morris' more rock/pop album, "Girl," and its title track just entered the Top 10, while stalwart Carrie Underwood just charged back into the Top 20. Also, Kelsea Ballerini also led a long, steady run in the Top 10. However, what was learned from Musgraves' victories and the reaction to Lil Nas X's chart halt remains to be seen.
In the complicated world of hip-hop, we mourned Nipsey Hussle and saw Kanye lead a Sunday service at Coachella, in what has been a year of change so far.
The established artists are doing well with mostly-streaming albums, but the stars of last year did not quite take hold. Future Gucci Mane and the old guard may be replaced by the new guard. DaBaby's "Suge" looks to compete for song of the summer, while Blueface and Polo G are clearly what is next. On the alternative front, 2019 even saw a chart single and No. 1 debut from Tyler the Creator. However, the year is only halfway over and shaping up to be one for female rappers Lizzo (who let's face it, should be the next superstar), Megan Thee Stallion, and City Girls whose singles and albums continue to build from week-to-week.
BEST OF THE YEAR (so far)
(reviewed in short form, with song suggestions that just might work for you)
• DEERHUNTER – Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared [LP/CD](Matador)
The darkest lyrics ("Death In Midsummer") given musical lightness to illustrate hope.
• THE DELINES – The Imperial [LP/CD](Decor UK)
A novel brought to life. A song cycle of desperate people ("Eddie and Polly") bonded together by falling apart.
• AMELIA WHITE – "Rhythm of the Rain" [CD](Whitewolf UK)
East Nashville country as a microcosm for the poetry of not looking away.
• BOY HARSHER – Careful [LP/CD](Nude Club)
Minimal Goth-meets-Synth pop. More textured than both antecedents with more hooks ("Come Closer") than both antecedents.
• JESSICA PRATT – Quiet Signs [LP/CD](Mexican Summer)
If beauty is truth and truth is beauty, Pratt's beautifully recounted daydreams ("This Time Around") are really dreams coming true.
• CHAIN WALLET – "Ride" [LP/CD/CS)(Ja Jansen Records NORWAY)
Indie pop always tries to contain that propulsion of elegant 80’s synth pop. This single is enough to make you scream, "A-ha!"
• LE VILLEJUIF UNDERGROUND – When Will The Flies in Deauville Drop? [LP/CD](Born Bad FRANCE)
Where's the weirdness you ask? Imagine an Australian rasp dictating modern absurdist poetry ("John Forbes") over a French band that sounds like Pavement.
• THE COWBOYS – The Bottom of A Rotten Flower [LP/CS](Feel It)
Punk rock need not sound like punk rock ("My Conscience is Clean"). Bloomington, Indiana, boys prove that you can have 60's pop harmonies with 70's RAWK thrust.
• STELLA DONNELLY – Beware of the Dogs [LP/CD](Secretly Canadian)
• FAYE WEBSTER – Atlanta Millionaires Club [LP/CD](Secretly Canadian)
In a year filled with fantastic female singer/songwriters emerging, this pair is the most dangerous. Donnelly takes on toxic masculinity with panache ("Old Man"), while Webster calculates Romance circa 2019 ("Kingston").
• COMET IS COMING – Trust In The Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery [LP/CD](Impulse!)
• BLACK MIDI – Schlagenheim [LP](Rough Trade)
Where's the experimentalism? Two London bands that threaten to burn down staid structured music. Comet fuses jazz and electronica in a fiery ("Summon The Fire") blast. Black Midi make Prog rock for Emo-raised Post Rockers ("953").
• FAT WHITE FAMILY – Serf's Up [LP/CD](Fat Possum)
Have you ever danced uncontrollably to tomes of class struggle and apocalypse?
("Tastes Good With The Money")
• THE GLOVE – No Blades No Bones [LP](Louder Than War UK)
More pounding than your last headache, the difference, this is blissful release ("SAIYEH").
• WAND – "Thin Air" (Drag City)
Turning down psychedelia in favor of sleek, futuristic rock, Wand step out of the garage.
• J.J.CALE – "Stay Around" (Because)
• DOUG SEEGERS – "Give It Away" (BMG Artist Mgmt)
What about the old guard? J.J.Cale delivered the first Americana bedroom jam, while Seegers triumphs over grief and homelessness to deliver a true feel-good tearjerker.
• BIG THIEF – UFOF [LP/CD](4AD)
I have long thought Adrienne Lenker spoke for me. "UFOF" makes me think she truly speaks ("Cattails") for all of us.
• WIVES – "Waving Past Nirvana" [7"](City Slang)
If radio was still a force, this grungy strut mixed with girl group harmonies would make this the hit it richly deserves to be.
• DISQ – "Communication" [7"](Saddle Creek)
High school guys from Madison, Wisconsin, whose crystalline guitar pop rises from Big Star melancholia only to destroy you with the chords of its shimmering chorus.
• BILL CALLAHAN – Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest [LP/CD](Drag City)
Callahan reveals his own life to us ("747"). As the intimate album moves through marriage, fatherhood and even death, he allows you to feel as content as he does.
• KATE TEMPEST – The Book of Traps and Lessons [LP/CD](American)
Poetry regains not only its vitality, timeliness ("All Humans Too Late"), but most importantly the ability to reveal one's self without self-aggrandizement ("I Trap You").
• JAKE XERXES FUSSELL – Out of Sight [LP/CD](Paradise of Bachelors)
Folk music has not sounded this simple in years. With a small band, Fussell rediscovers the timelessness ("The River St.Johns") in storytelling.
• CATE LE BON – Reward [LP/CD](Mexican Summer)
Aptly-titled songwriting tour-de-force. Love songs about being in love and being away from them ("Home To You").
• WEYES BLOOD – Titanic Rising [LP/CD/CS](SubPop)
Natalie Mering fell out of love ("Mirror Forever") only to discover that life ("Movies") is the gift we share with everyone and love only springs from within.
