Music Friday: "If She Could Only See Me Now"

Deer Tick came out with a new album this summer that is garnering a bit of attention from folks. 

The band has been around for a good while. I saw them play in St. Louis quite a long time ago. 

Hopefully the new album will expose folks to the band's earlier work, which is quite good.  

Music Friday: "Smith Hill"

As I was checking my email this morning, this song is the first tune that came on via iPod shuffle. 

Yes, I still use an iPod. 

I saw Deer Tick with a good friend and fraternity brother years ago at Off Broadway in St. Louis. 

Enjoy.

Top Twentysomething Albums of 2017

It's that time of the year again.

Like I did in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, I'm providing my top choices of albums that came out this year. 

If there are other albums you would recommend that came out in 2017, please let me know in the comments section.

1. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Nashville Sound

Not a big surprise here. Isbell put out another fine album this year. Unlike the previous album, this one showcased more rockers, which I thoroughly enjoy. Isbell and his comrades need to plug in the electric guitars more often and turn it up to eleven. "Hope the High Road" is one of my favorite songs of this year, and it effectively sums up my sentiments about the shit show that was the election and this past year. "White Man's World" is provocative exploration of white privilege. 

I am a bit flummoxed by the title of the album, however. Perhaps it was a juke move to get on the ballot of the CMT awards? I doubt it. Regardless, he has the poetic license to name the album whatever he wants, but I have these candidates for a better album title: Fire in Her Eyes, One Great Burden, One Fate, or Hope the High Road.

Favorite Songs: "Hope the High Road," "White Man's World," "Something to Love," and "Anxiety"

2. Benjamin Booker, Witness

This year I discovered Benjamin Booker. I'm late to the party. I like his mix of rock, R&B, and punk sensibilities. I need to get his debut album. 

Favorite Songs: "Motivation," "Truth is Heavy," "Overtime," and "All Was Well"

3. Father John Misty, Pure Comedy

I really got into this dude's music this year. The video of "Pure Comedy" has to be one of the highlights of the musical year. It reminds me of Twain's Letters from the Earth, and that's a huge compliment from me. That's one of my favorite Twain books. At times the album seems like Mr. Misty pontificating to musical tracks, but I like his pontificating. It's an album that when you sit down to or have on in the car on a road trip, it gets you trippy. In a good way. 

"Where did they find these goons elected to rule them? What makes these clowns they idolize so remarkable? These mammals are hell-bent on fashioning new Gods."

"I hate to say it, but each other's all we got." 

Favorite Songs: "Pure Comedy," "Total Entertainment Forever," "When the God of Love Returns There'll Be Hell to Pay," and "In Twenty Years or So"

4. Queens of the Stone Age, Villains

Man, Sirius XM's The Spectrum played the Hell out of "The Way You Used to Do" this year. I know it's a good song and all, but there are many other solid songs on the new Queens... album. If you like guitar-driven rock, this is worth your time. 

Favorite Songs: "The Evil Has Landed," "Feet Don't Fail Me Now," "Head Like a Haunted House," and "Domesticated Animals"

5. The War on Drugs, A Deeper Understanding

I had read critical praise for this band here and there over the years, but I didn't pay much attention to it. Then I took the dive and bought the band's new album. I got hooked. There's a hypnotic quality to the band's songs. They just suck you in.  

Favorite Songs: "Nothing to Find," "Holding On, "Up All Night," and "In Chains" 

6. JD McPherson, Undivided Heart and Soul

Now that's a great album cover if anyone cares about album art anymore. McPherson has a old-time rock-n-roll vibe to his work. What a great voice. What was missing from this album were the horns. His previous album featured horns in a good way. Regardless, this is a strong album that I happily listen to. 

Favorite Songs: "Let's Get Out of Here While We're Young," "Under the Spell of City Lights," "Style (Is a Losing Game)," and "Desperate Love"

7. Deer Tick, Vol. 2

Deer Tick came out with two albums this year. Vol. 2 is the more rock-oriented offering, the mustard of the two. This band is one of the more underrated groups playing right now. You need to buy their albums. Depending on the day, I could easily flip Vol. 1 for Vol. 2 in the rankings. 

Favorite Songs: "Jumpstarting," "Sloppy," "Tiny Fortunes," and "S.M.F."

8. North Mississippi Allstars, Prayer for Peace

After World Boogie is Coming, I didn't know what to expect from NMAS. This is another solid offering from the guys who provide healthy doses of rock/blues. Like Benjamin Booker's "Witness," "Prayer for Peace" weighs in on race relations. 

Favorite Songs: "Red Rooster," "Prayer for Peace," "You Got to Move," and "long Haired Doney"

9. Deer Tick, Vol. 1

Vol. 2 is the more folk-oriented offering of the two albums. 

Favorite Songs: "Doomed from the Start," "Hope Is Big," "Cocktail," and "Sea of Clouds" 

10. Son Volt, Notes of Blue

I think I have unrealistic expectations for Son Volt, aka Jay Farrar and other dudes he plays with. I found Honky Tonk disappointing, and considering the greatness of the band's earlier albums such as Trace and Swing Wide Tremelo, I cast a hypercritical eye on the new releases. 

I bought this album when it came out, listened to it a few times, and then didn't revisit until I drove up to Iowa to visit my dad. I decided to give it a second chance and realized it's a good album.

Favorite Songs: "Back Against the Wall," "Sinking Down," "Lost Souls," and "Cherokee St." 

11. Eric Bibb, Migration Blues

In a time in which a narcissistic, fact-challenged, pathological liar claims that he's going to build a wall to stop the illegal immigration that has actually declined, Migration Blues was a needed tonic. This is traditional blues fare we should be thankful for. 

Favorite Songs: "Delta Getaway," "Diego's Blues," "Masters of War," and "Postcard from Booker"

12. Matthew Ryan, Hustle Up Starlings

I dig this artist's scratchy voice and singer-songwriter bent. I had never heard of this guy before I read on some blog post that he had a new album out. The album is a mix of acoustic numbers and straightforward rock-n-roll. 

Favorite Songs: "It's a Delicate Waltz," "Battle-Born," "Close Your Eyes," and "Summer Never Ends" 

13. Trombone Shorty, Parking Lot Symphony

You know the deal. Trombone Shorty melds jazz, R&B, and rock to please your ears. I don't think it's the strongest of his albums, but it's enjoyable. 

Favorite Songs: "Tripped Out Slim," "Where It At?," "Laveau Dirge No. 1," and "Here Come the Girls" 

14. Turnpike Troubadours, A Long Way from Your Heart

This band keeps putting out strong after strong albums. I don't know if top 40 country stations play this band's songs because, in general, top 40 country sucks. The current "Nashville sound" is crap. Feces. Fertilizer. Merde. Unimaginative Shit.

Favorite Songs: "Oklahoma Stars," "The Housefire," "The Hard Way," and "Something to Hold on To"

15. Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears, Backlash

I like this guy's work. His songs often get selected when my iPod is doing its shuffle. He and his mates mix rock with horns. This album seems to be more guitar-oriented. 

Favorite Songs: "Global," "PTP," "Shadow People," and "Prison"

16. Foo Fighters, Concrete and Gold

I really enjoyed the band's previous album and the HBO series that corresponded with it. If you like hard rock, check out this new offering. 

Favorite Songs: "La Dee Da," "Run," "The Sky is Neighborhood," and "Make It Right"

17. Blitzen Trapper, Wild and Reckless

The band billed this as a dystopian album of sorts. I need to listen to the lyrics more carefully to suss that out. From what I recall, darkness lurks. 

Favorite Songs: "When I'm Dying," "Dance with Me," "Joanna," and "Baby Won't You Turn Me 

On" 

18. Margo Price, All American Made

This Illinois native is one of the few country musicians to speak out against MoscowDon. Good for her. 

Even better is that she has crafted a strong album that is worth your time. 

The title song and "Pay Gap" are great. 

Favorite Songs: "All American Made," "Pay Gap," "A Little Pain," and "Wild Women"

19. Prophets of Rage, self-titled

It's good to hear Chuck D doing his thing again. 

These songs could be political. 

Favorite Songs: "Living on the 110," "Hands Up," "Unfuck the World," and "Radical Eyes"

20. Weezer, Pacific Daydream

That was quick. This band that made its name in the 90s just had an album out last year. How productive. If you like Weezer, you'll like this album. 

I like Weezer. 

Favorite Songs: "Feels Like Summer," "Weekend Woman," "Any Friend of Diane's," and "Happy Hour"

Honorable Mentions

Bash & Pop, Anything Could Happen

Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile, Lotta Sea Lice

Fleet Foxes, Crack-Up

Josh Ritter, Gathering

Justin Townes Earle, Kids in the Street

The Secret Sisters, You Don't Own Me Anymore

Supersonic Blues Machine, Californiasoul

Music Friday: "Doomed from the Start" & "Jumpstarting"

Deer Tick came out with two albums this year. They are appropriately titled Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. 

Here's a song from each album. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I started watching the movie Cider House Rules today, and doing so spurred me to buy the novel. I read that book way back in high school, and I remember it as one of those books that fundamentally changed the way I look at things. I might start revisiting books I haven't read since high school. 

But wow, I had forgotten the movie had Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, and Paul Rudd in it. 

News came across my FB feed today, and an ad related that Deer Tick will have two new albums out this fall. Vol. 1 is all acoustic, and Vol. 2 is a rock album. Check out the ad: "Deer Tick New Albums on PledgeMusic." 

I dislike ketchup on hot dogs and sausages. I was glad to find out that the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council supports my disdain via its "Hot Dog Etiquette" guidelines.

Music Friday: "Electric" & "Smith Hill"

I just got back from taking the dog for a walk, laid down on the couch, started reading my book, and then realized I hadn't done my Music Friday post yet today. 

I'm getting all scatterbrained. 

When I was walking Darby, I listened to Deer Tick's Divine Providence, which is a good album. It's not my favorite Deer Dick disc, but I like it. 

So here's to Deer Tick. I offer "Electric," the next to last song on Divine Providence, along with "Smith Hill" from Born on Flag Day.

Design Matters

As I'm sure you've noticed if you've been reading my blog for a while, the design changed recently. PlannedOb is now ensconced in milk chocolate brown.

Mmmmmm ........ chocolate. [In my best Homer Simpson voice]

For some time I've been fighting with myself about changing the blog's template to something more current than the crude design I used from years ago. Heck, now the blog even has sans serif font throughout, which is commonsense for the Web, but I still cherish the little feet on Georgia typeface from before. And Garamond and Baskerville, I love those bastards.

I like the new design. Don't get me wrong.

But I kind of like the idea of having an old-school, rudimentary design for blogs and websites like the one purposively done as a throwback for the band Deer Tick. The lead singer, as the interview recounts on website, "isn't a fan of flashy websites," which sounds exactly like something Mr. MaCauley would say. He's a wiseacre. He's trying to be funny.

But I've settled on brown, a color that invites yawns to most people, coupled with blue.

Wallow in PlannedOb's chocolate love, people.

Top Ten/Twenty Albums of 2010

The folks over at No Depression are doing their annual reader's poll of the top twenty albums of 2010. Below I'm going to provide my top ten of the year with an assortment of significant and honorable mentions (the next ten). I posted my own top twenty over at No Depression, but after I posted, I realized there were some other albums I would have put it the top ten if I had remembered them.

So here goes my revised top ten/twenty. If you've enjoyed some albums that came out in 2010 that are on this list or ones that aren't on it, feel free to post ones that you feel are worth mentioning.

1. Justin Townes Earle, Harlem River Blues

This guy is an artist I've really grown to like over this year, and this album is outstanding. The songs are written from the p.o.v. of characters in his new town, NYC. His work melds country, blues, and folk traditions. If there were an artist I would want to do an album of Hank Williams' covers, JTE would be the man. Favorite Songs: "Harlem River Blues," "Workin' for the MTA," and "Ain't Waitin'."

2. Drive-By Truckers, The Big To-Do

DBT is not known for its uplifting lyrics. Although the band does have some work that is darkly humorous, they're not a feel-good band. The Big To-Do got back to what the band does best: playing straightforward, guitar-oriented, twangy rock-n-roll with dark lyrics. Favorite Songs: "The Fourth Night of My Drinking," "This Fucking Job," and "Eyes Like Glue."

3. Frontier Ruckus, Deadmalls and Nightfalls

This band's sophomore release is just as good if not better than than its first, The Orion Songbook. I don't know how to classify these folks, but I like their old-timey/alternative instrumentation and willfully obtuse lyrics. Favorite Songs: "Nerves of the Nightmind," "Springterror," and "Pontiac, the Nightbrink."

4. Deer Tick, The Black Dirt Sessions

I saw these guys in concert this year, and they are a trip. To a degree, I think they're a reincarnation of The Replacements, and that's high praise from me. While I don't find this album as strong as previous ones, it's good stuff. Favorite Songs: "Twenty Miles" and "Mange."

5. Glossary, Feral Fire

This is a band, in my opinion, that more people need to know about. They're not flashy. They're not particularly hip. They just play good music. The band from Mufreesboro put out a solid album here. Favorite Songs: "Lonely is a Town," "Save Your Money for the Weekend," and "Hope and Peril."

6. The Hold Steady, Heaven Is Whenever

Guitar-oriented rock-n-roll with interesing lyrics. It's that simple. Favorite Songs: "The Sweet Part of the City," "The Smidge," and "Our Whole Lives."

7. Trampled by Turtles, Palomino

The Duluth-based "thrashgrass" band put out another good album this year. While I don't think "thrashgrass" captures their work, that's what the band calls itself for lack of a better desciptor. Favorite Songs: "Wait So Long" and "New Orleans."

8. John Mellencamp, No Better Than This

As Mellencamp has said before, "It's never been cool to like John Mellencamp." His teaming up with T-Bone Burnett combined with the old fashioned recording process at historic American spots created an excellent album, one that grows on you. Maybe he is becoming "cool"? I doubt it, but who gives a @#$%. Favorite Songs: "Save Some Time to Dream," "No Better Than This," and "Clumsy Ol' World."

9. The Henry Clay People, Somewhere on the Golden Coast

Straight outta the O.C. Or something like that. Last.fm describes the band as "a type of no-frills, pretention-free rock that has sorely been missing from LA." I know little about the current L.A. music scene or most music "scenes" for that matter, but I like the album a lot. Favorite Songs: "Working Part-Time," "End of an Empire," and "This Ain't a Scene."

10. Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More

A loyal reader of this blog turned me on to these guys, so thanks TG Dem. While I usually have a weird revulsion to the British accents of certain bands besides the Beatles and the Spice Girls, Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More is a very good album I need to listen to much more often. Favorite Songs: "The Cave" and "White Blank Page."

Honorable Mentions (the next ten):

JJ Grey & Mofro, Georgia Warhorse

Mr. Grey still hasn't outdone his second album, Lochloosa (under only Mofro's name), but this is a strong effort.

Ryan Bingham, Junky Star

I found this album to be kind of uneven and lethargic at times, but it's still a good one. If you liked his first two albums, you'll like this one.

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, self-titled

Ms. Potter has a very good voice, and the band that backs her rocks. The album is overproduced, however.

Punch Brothers, Antifogmatic

I'm thinking about seeing these guys in concert sometime. They meld bluegrass and chamber music.

Blue Giant, self-titled

This band has a strong debut album--alt-countryish, folky leanings.

Local Natives, Gorilla Manor

Daytrotter has been featuring the hell out of these guys. While they're a little poppy at times, the songs stay with you.

Truckstop Darlin', self-titled

Sure, they have a sketchy name, but the the band reminds me the Drive-By Truckers, Lucero, Uncle Tupelo, and Whiskeytown. I like those comparisons and the debut album.

Trombone Shorty, Backatown

This guy will make you get up and dance.

The Sheepdogs, Learn & Burn

This band seems to have taken in elements of classic rock and reformulated it for now. And they're from Saskatoon. How often do you get to say you like a band from Saskatoon?

Centro-matic/South San Gabriel, Eyas

Eyas is a EP, but if you can only download one song from this, download SSG's cover of Lionel Ritchie's "All Night Long." They turn a party song into something completely different. Check it out.

Music Friday: "Baltimore Blues No. 1"

Since I'm here in Baltimore for a conference, I thought I'd pass along a performance of one of the three songs I'm familiar with that have Baltimore featured in its name. It's "Baltimore Blues No. 1" by the mighty Deer Tick, and the other two songs I can think of are "Raining in Baltimore" by Counting Crows" and "Baltimore Oriole," which Mellencamp did a fine cover of on his Trouble No More album.

Anyway, click HERE if you want to watch Deer Tick perform on Letterman's show.

I was in Baltimore probably about a decade ago for a different conference when I was in grad school. As I shared to folks on FB, I think Baltimore needs to be renamed The City of Police Sirens because I heard a ton of them the first day I was here. My hotel isn't as close to the harbor as last time; I'm located toward the center of the city.

Last night I went to seafood restaurant, had a half dozen raw oysters, ate some crab cakes, and quaffed a couple of locally produced beers. And then it was back to the hotel because of this simple math: lots of seafood + beer + being at an academic conference = sleepy Quintilian B. Nasty.

After I take in sessions on today's conference program, I plan to head down to the Inner Harbor, grab some grub, and get some stuff for the Nasty family. For whatever reason, my son is intrigued by crabs, so I suspect Quinn will soon be acquiring a stuffed animal or hopefully something better that's crab-like.

Stay Positive: Going to a Show

It's not often that I get to go to shows much anymore, but when you have a gap in your schedule before school starts up again, it's good to take advantage of heading to St. Louis, having dinner with a couple of friends, and going to a show to take in some music from "emerging" bands, which seems to be the new moniker for alternative, non-corporate radio these days.

So last night a friend and I watch the double-bill of Dead Confederate and Deer Tick at Off Broadway.

I had listened to Dead Confederate a bit since I downloaded one their show in Athens, GA for free a while back (via Southern Shelter), and they remind me of Sonic Youth because of their atmospheric but hard-edged, guitar-oriented, fuzz-laden, wall of sound style. During their set I wish I would have brought earplugs because they were loud to the extent that you could feel the music moving through your body at times.

While I feel bad criticizing the band since I enjoy the lyrical mumblings of Eddie Vedder, Dead Confederate's lead singer couldn't be heard clearly, leading to unintelligible lyrics playing with their wall of sonic sound ethos.

Now Deer Tick I liked a lot already. I've been listening to their stuff for a while now (I recommend Born on Flag Day if you want to check them out), and their show was quite good. The lead singer--well oiled with beer and bags under his eyes from hard livin'--put on quite a show and cracked jokes. During the second song of the set, he displayed some Neil Diamond-like antics as the band played a soulful number from their latest release, The Black Dirt Sessions.

They played some of their more well known songs during the show, but Deer Tick also showcased some newer songs that I hadn't heard, and they were good.

And then there are the covers. I had already liked Deer Tick before I even came to the show, but after they covered "Waitress in the Sky" and "Can't Hardly Wait" by The Replacements, I liked them even more. I loves me some Replacements. And their version of ZZ Top's "Cheap Sunglasses" was quite fun too.

So Wardo, brother, thanks for taking in the show with me. Check ya later.

Music Friday: "Easy"

God Bless Deer Tick.

At least that's what the satirical bumper sticker says on the back of the band's old school bus in this video.

Click HERE to enjoy.

It's an odd name for a band, but the head man of the group explains the origin of the moniker on the band's rudimentary website. Click HERE for that.

"Let's kick it. Let's do 'Easy.'"