Favorite Records of 2016

2016 was a hot mess, right? My dad died in August. A bunch of our musical heroes died throughout the year. Our very existence is at risk because 'Merica decided to elect a narcicistic reality TV star as the next president in response to fears instead of being driven by hopes. I think America has been fleeced by a con man and the evangelical community has lost any standing it had to call itself the "moral majority." **Yeah, I guess I'm still pretty perplexed over this. Really unbelievable. But I digress. 

This is about the music. And 2016 was a killer good year for new music; a year for COMEBACKS. A Tribe Called Quest, Thrice, American Football, Metallica, and Jimmy Eat World had comebacks in some form in my view.

I can't narrow down and rank a top ten for the year so here's more of a hodge-podge commentary of what I loved in music this year along with Spotify links and some media.

A Tribe Called Quest - We got it from Here - Thank You 4 Your service: News of this record hit right before the record came out. It was recorded before Phife Dawg died. This record sounds like the natural followup to Midnight Marauders, as if the real records that came after it never happened. This year a bunch of older dudes put out killer hip hop - ATCQ, De La Soul, Common, Public Enemy...and new Run The Jewels soon (Killer Mike is not a young man, you know). The video is We The People from their performance on SNL.

Basement - Promise Everything: This might be my favorite record of the year. I found these dudes through a Spotify recommendation for me and it was spot on. I don't know much about the band other than they're from England write super hooky alt-rock. I spend most of my time listening to music trying to find new stuff to like, but this record was in regular rotation this year. The video is for Aquasun.

David Bazan - Blanco: I love this man - probably my favorite artist now. I'd say we've probably had similar spiritual journeys where we've left something behind to move on to something that feels real and keeps our consciences clear. I've seen him live twice in the last year and have told myself to not miss him again. His last show at Exit/In was just him and an electric guitar, tones dialed in. It was captivating. This year's record, Blanco, is a compilation of songs he released as part of the Bazan Monthly Volumes - 2 songs written, recorded, and released per month. I *think* we'll get more music from Bazan this year, but we'll also get a record from Lo-Tom, a collaboration with Jason Martin, TW Walsh, and Trey Many. Videos are Hard To Be from his Nashville show in December 2015, and Trouble With Boys, from Blanco. Note how few actual words are in Trouble With Boys, but the line about "stepbrothers" brings to mind the image of a girl thrown into a new family she doesn't know, thrown into a new reality she's not comfortable with. This lit up the empath in me - feeling it from her point of view.

O'Brother - Endless Light: I'm still in love with these noise-makers from Atlanta that are flying too far under the radar. Again, their have their guitar/bass tones dialed in and the songs are pushed by the Michael Martens' plodding rhythms and Tanner Merritt's vocal runs. Video - Deconstruct

Thrice - To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere: Thrice returns from hiatus with a record that builds on the exploration and maturity they've developed over the last few. They've moved from blending hardcore and punk to being more of an enigmatic rock band exploring tones and texture. I loved the experimentation of the Alchemy Index EPs and the new record still carries some of the twists they explored there, but this to me is a mature band's record. The most Thrice-y moments to me are the companion tracks Death From Above and Whistleblower, a scathing critique of U.S. government policy and behavior. And, as always, there's a water themed track with the opener, Hurricane. Man, Dustin loves him some nautical theming. (ex. Red Sky, Water EP, The Great Exchange, Words in the Water). Video: Hurricane

Turnstile - Nonstop Feeling: I think this is my 2nd favorite record of the year - this and Basement's record both came out early in the year so I had a lot of time to get to know them. I love hardcore. I love melodies. I love music with pop tendencies that isn't pop-music. Turnstile toured the U.S. with Basement this year and I didn't get to see it, but I can only imagine it was amazing. Just check out the video - this rules. I'm 40 now and I love this stuff.

Chance The Rapper - Coloring Book: I didn't know who this guy was until this year. Kanye protege who's been active in the mixtape world (which I don't follow). My God this record is good. Keeps me hopeful about the younger generations. I get the sense he knows how much of a God record this is, but also may never be able to grasp the hope and positivity he's bringing into the world. Seems like such a good dude. Do your thing man. Video: Blessings (Reprise) from Tonight w/Jimmy Fallon.

Jimmy Eat World - Integrity Blues: I think this is their best record since Futures. It sounds dumb to say it sounds like a Jimmy Eat World record, but it's true. I had it as part of a random playlist and when they'd come up I'd know it was them. I'm still growing into it since it was a fall release, but this is solid all the way through. Video: Sure and Certain from Jimmy Kimmel Live

Civilian - You Wouldn't Believe What Privilege Costs : These dudes live in my town and I had no idea about them until I saw some tweets from Derek Webb and some promo messages from Tooth and Nail. I've followed T&N since their inception and haven't been into much they've released in the last few years. This record is a gem and it'll be in regular rotation for a long time to come. I probably should have gone to the show where they opened for Paper Route recently. Doh! Video: Cut & Run

Other notables: 
Metallica - Hardwired...To Self-Destruct: Better than Death Magnetic so far. Hope they come to Nashville so Griffin and I can finally see them together - not that he really wants to now, but we're still going.

American Football - American Football (LP2): I wasn't a big emo kid and this band wasn't on my radar with their first record. In fact, I just added it to my New To Me playlist so I check it out. I love this record. It's great to have in the background when I'm working, but I also think it's one where you can sit with headphones and really pay attention to all that's going on.

PJ - Rare: I don't like pop music, but I heard about this from the Sound Opinions podcast and gave it a whirl. I like this in the same way I like The Weeknd. It's pop, but it's edgy. 

Musical Roulette: Where The Streets Have No Name by U2

*Going to try to get back to doing this. Stole the idea from Riley Breckenridge of Thrice. I'll randomly play one of my "saved" songs on Spotify and post it regardless of how mundane or embarrassing it may be. There's a story behind a person's relationship with every song. These are my stories.

I didn't become the music lover I am until middle school. Early on I liked the Beach Boys and listened to a lot of oldies, but I didn't listen to modern, popular music until middle school. In 7th grade I had one of those young, cool science teachers and I'd hang out in this guy's classroom at lunch sometimes, and he'd give me music. Joshua Tree was one of the tapes he gave me. The other I remember vividly is Def Leppard's Hysteria. This one's an instant classic - hard to believe it's about to be 30 years old. 

I'm not a huge U2 fan, but have tons of respect for what they've done. And I absolutely love how much they've worked to make the world a better place through AIDS prevention, sourcing clean water, etc. Good dudes bringing the Kingdom to the world, not trying to take the world to the Kingdom. 

Musings

I keep coming back to this thing. The internet is a noisy place and the last thing I want to do is add to the noise, but there are things I want to say. I think I've refrained from writing here much because I don't want to say things that'll hurt someone's feelings. But maybe it's worth it? Maybe I should just say what I think should be said and whatever happens, happens?? Shaking my head. I don't even know if I'll ever finish and post this one. 

I love that I named it "Burn It, Build It."  At the time, I was just looking for a catchy name and it was the theme of a song by Thrice called The Arsonist: 

We will burn it down and build it again

What was buried in flame

Burn it down and build it again from the bricks that remain

This is what's happened with my faith and general worldview. It's been burned down and built again. The burning process has happened over a few years and it's been tough. I internalize most things and am not good at in-person conversations, so it's a process I've largely undertaken on my own. I have tons of conversations in my head. Words that will never be said, although there's a lot I want to say. 

I'm very careful with how I word things. I work in sales and I'm extremely conscious of wording that sets expectations correctly. If there's a solid chance I can't deliver something, I won't give the expectations that I can. Customers don't love it, but they also know they're getting the truth from me. How's that for sales tactics? Meh.

Sooooo maybe I'll just write some. For what it's worth...all but the last paragraph of this post was written back in June, abandoned and forgotten until now.

Random Start: Father Son Picnic by Slick Shoes

Love these shredders. They were one of the first bands I worked with when I was hired on at Davdon. They were super young at the time - I think the singer Ryan was 14 when they started up.  His mom was their manager. We had to book shows around their school schedule, although eventually Ryan dropped out to do the band full time. This was mid-90s and pop-punk was hitting big.

Slick Shoes was a band that could hang with their peers "chops"-wise. The first thing that always comes to mind when a song from them comes up is "my favorite little shredders." I only got to meet up with them and see them play once here in Nashville. Definitely wish I could have seen them play more. They just reunited for a show last August with MxPx and Five Iron Frenzy, and they're either about to play or just played w/Zebrahead.

Here's a recent podcast ep from the Mike Herrerra show with the guys talking about the reunion shows.

And a bit of live vid from that show:

Random Start: One True Love by Rich Mullins

Rich Mullins was the realest. In 6th or 7th grade a missionary came to our church and introduced me to Christian music. I wasn't really looking for it, and I didn't really have any limitations on what I could listen to from my parents - but I dove in. Maybe because it was a small, more exclusive community where I fit in - as opposed to the bigger world out there. Thinking back...there's something to that - something that's off.

Anyway, this tape was included among the tapes this guy gave me to go home and dub. I liked the melodies and feel of the music. In the late 80s this had kind of a Paul Simon/Billy Joel/Singer-Songwriter vibe that I was into. Musically this is very 80s - echo chamber drums, spacey-sounding keyboard bits, bass line that flows but seems more treble than bass.

Back to Rich being the realest. This guy kept making music and was part of the "Ragamuffin" community that embraced grace and simple living. He even had his accountants figure out the minimum amount of income he could live on and donate the rest to charity.

Unfortunately Rich died in a jeep wreck in 1997. I'd be curious to see what part of the faith community he'd be in today. I have a feeling he would shun the evangelical title just as I have.

Random Start: It's All About Fear by The Crucified

This band was my jam all through high school.  Still love this record. This was from a time when there were folks making "Christian" music but its quality and creativity matched their "general market" counterparts. IMO the 90s were a golden age for music and the same goes for "Christian" bands from that decade - stuff like Adam Again and The Prayer Chain.