Showing posts with label Best of 2023. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Best of 2023. Show all posts

Dec 21, 2023

Favorite Songs of 2023 Spotlight / Lori McKenna / "Happy Children"



Farce the Music's 40 Favorite Songs of 2023


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1. Lucero “Macon if We Make It”
I’d never call it a comeback, but Lucero’s last album, When You Found Me, was very disappointing for this hardcore fan. The exploration of classic and somewhat progressive rock left me flat - I don’t blame them or slight them for following their artistic leanings anywhere they want to go - it just wasn’t for me. The new record, Should’ve Learned by Now, is an absolute return to form. My favorite song of the year, “Macon if We Make It” is a rip-roaring, country-tinted heartland rocker of an anthem I can’t wait to sing along with at shows. If this was a best lyrics list, this song would not be here, but sometimes it’s about what you do with them, and Lucero gave us their heart and soul and made it catchy as hell.



2. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit “King of Oklahoma”
What more can be said about this one? Everybody has their own thoughts on Isbell and his music, and to be honest, I was of the thinking that he’d never make another album I thought was a masterpiece. I was wrong. Weathervanes is amazing, and “King of Oklahoma” rides a bullet into the stratosphere of Isbell/Unit classics. Conversational, timely, and dropping in a smidgen of dark humor, “KOH” will be on the setlist for years to come.



3. William Prince “Tanqueray”
The dude with the smoothest vocals in Americana/Canadiacana? music nailed his 2023 album, and this tune fought off “Easier and Harder” and “When You Miss Someone” to be crowned as my favorite.



4. Joe Stamm Band “Dollar General Sign”


5. Bella White “Marilyn”


6. St. Paul & The Broken Bones “Magnolia”
If you don’t like this song, you should try sex.


7. Cory Branan “Gatlinburg” (song starts at 1:20)


8. Gabe Lee “Merigold”


9. Charles Wesley Godwin “Family Ties”


10. Lydia Loveless “Summerlong”




12. Turnpike Troubadours “The Rut”


13. Deer Tick “The Real Thing”




15. Chris Stapleton “The Bottom”


16. Metallica “You Must Burn!”




18. Caitlyn Smith “High”


19. Zach Bryan, Maggie Rogers “Dawns”


20. Lori McKenna “Happy Children”




Next 20 (Unranked)



Jake Worthington “Closing Time”


Ashley McBryde “Learned to Lie”


Esther Rose “Chet Baker”




Miles Miller “I Wish”


Lance Roark “Better Man”


Old Crow Medicine Show “Daughter of the Highlands”


Tyler Childers “In Your Love”


The War and Treaty “Dumb Luck”


Jason Hawk Harris “Roll”




Whitney Rose “Can’t Remember Happiness”


Flatland Cavalry “Only Thing At All”


Jaime Wyatt “Love Is a Place”


Colby Acuff “Western White Pines”


Jeffrey Martin “Sculptor”


Brandy Clark ft. Brandi Carlile “Dear Insecurity”


Lillie Mae “Razor Love”


Brennen Leigh “Mississippi Rendezvous”


Willie Tea Taylor "Bakersfield"




Dec 5, 2023

What Your Favorite Album of 2023 Says About You



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Pony Bradshaw - North Georgia Rounder

You read a lot of Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner and still don’t understand half the lyrics of this album. You own at bare minimum 23 flannel shirts. You will only discuss politics with your immediate group of friends around a fire pit after a few PBRs, but there could be violence at that point.



Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley: Chapter 2

You enjoy music that isn’t good.



Jason Aldean - Highway Desperado

Your political beliefs have evolved your hearing to like bad music, as long as the singer agrees with you on every possible subject. You live in a suburb and have complained on the neighborhood Facebook page about “loud booming music in cars driving by.” You own $4,000 worth of camouflage but only go hunting once a year, if that. Your wife doesn’t know about the ED yet thanks to gas station pills. 



Shania Twain - Queen of Me

Your nostalgic love of the late 90s warps your taste in unhealthy ways. You’re always quick with a “she had vocal surgery,” but never a “maybe she should rest her voice or retire” in the Facebook comments. You’re glad the Karen jokes finally died down a little. You should probably schedule a hearing test. 



Flatland Cavalry - Wandering Star

Despite the tattoos and the extensive police record, you are a born romantic. You have cried about an ASPCA commercial and punched a guy who cut you off in traffic on the same day. Your significant other is a complete normie.



SZA - SOS

You write for Rolling Stone, or various other music sites. This album came out in 2022. Tough shit if it came out in December; maybe you shouldn’t drop your lists so early. 

Note: This album is really good if you like R&B.



Luke Combs - Gettin’ Old

You’re most likely a cool, salt of the earth person who doesn’t have much interest in lyrically complex or musically adventurous songs, and that’s okay, but you still demand more than “beer girl truck.” You own $400 worth of camouflage, and are in the woods at least every Saturday of deer season. You are anywhere on the political spectrum except far left and far right. 



HARDY - The Mockingbird and the Crow

You are a relatively upstanding dude with a family and a decent job, but you still get shit-faced at every Mississippi State game and wind up having to apologize to a friend, coworker, family member, or innocent bystander. You are either the person in your group of music snobs with the worst taste, or the one in your group of bro’s with the best taste. There is no in between. 


Dec 4, 2023

Top Albums Every Year of Farce the Music's Existence

 It's almost Year-End List season, (The 2023 albums list should be ready later in December) so it's time for a recap of which albums topped our lists in past years. 


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No links, no summaries, no pretty album covers, just lists.

Who knows? Maybe you'll see something you've been forgetting to check out.

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2022

1. Kaitlin Butts - What Else Can She Do

2. 49 Winchester - Fortune Favors the Bold

3. Vandoliers - s/t

4. Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

5. Ben Chapman - Make the Night Better

6. Ian Noe - River Fools & Mountain Saints

7. Aaron Raitiere - Single Wide Dreamer

8. The Wilder Blue - s/t

9. Mike Marks & The Resurrectors - Feel Like Going Home

10. Michaela Anne - Oh to Be That Free

11. Gabe Lee - The Hometown Kid

12. Joshua Hedley - Neon Blue

13. Wade Bowen - Somewhere Between the Secret & the Truth

14. Arlo McKinley - This Mess We’re In

15. Adeem the Artist - White Trash Revelry

16. Kelsey Waldon - No Regular Dog

17. Amanda Shires - Take it Like a Man

18. Tami Neilson - Kingmaker

19. Band of Horses - Things are Great

20. Plains - I Walked With You a Ways



2021

1. Morgan Wade - Reckless

2. Charles Wesley Godwin - How the Mighty Fall

3. James McMurtry - The Horses and the Hounds

4. Sierra Ferrell - Long Time Coming

5. Mike & The Moonpies - One to Grow On

6. Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days

7. Billy Strings - Renewal

8. Jesse Daniel - Beyond These Walls

9. Sturgill Simpson - The Ballad of Dood & Juanita

10. Emily Scott Robinson - American Siren

11. Margo Cilker - Pohorylle

12. The Steel Woods - All of Your Stones

13. Jason Boland and the Stragglers - The Light Saw Me

14. Olivia Rodrigo - Sour

15. Mac Leaphart - Music City

16. Mastodon - Hushed and Grim

17. John R. Miller - Depreciated

18. TK & The Holy Know Nothings - The Incredible Heat Machine

19. Langhorne Slim - Strawberry Mansion

20. Cole Chaney - Mercy


2020

1. American Aquarium - Lamentations

2. The Wilder Blue - Hill Country

3. Tennessee Jet - The Country

4. Zephaniah Ohora - Listening to the Music

5. Chris Stapleton - Starting Over

6. Ward Davis - Black Cats & Crows

7. Ruthie Collins - Cold Comfort

8. Futurebirds - Teamwork

9. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Reunions

10. Tami Neilson - Chickaboom!

11. Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin’ Grass Vol. I

12. Run the Jewels - RTJ4

13. Waylon Payne - Blue Eyes, The Harlot…

14. Arlo McKinley - Die Midwestern

15. Jaime Wyatt - Neon Cross

16. Ashley McBryde - Never Will

17. Jesse Daniel - Rollin’ On

18. Margo Price - That’s How Rumors Get Started

19. Elizabeth Cook - Aftermath

20. Kathleen Edwards - Total Freedom



2019

1. Vandoliers - Forever

2. Ian Noe - Between the Country

3. Tyler Childers - Country Squire

4. Charles Wesley Godwin - Seneca

5. Mike & The Moonpies - Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold

6. Kelsey Waldon - White Noise / White Lines

7. Jade Bird - s/t

8. Jason Hawk Harris - Love and the Dark

9. Dalton Domino - Songs From the Exile

10. Whiskey Myers - s/t

11. Molly Tuttle - When You’re Ready

12. Cody Jinks - The Wanting

13. Sturgill Simpson - Sound and Fury

14. Black Pumas - s/t

15. The Highwomen - s/t

16. Caroline Spence - Mint Condition

17. Emily Scott Robinson - Traveling Mercies

18. (Tie) Tom Russell - October in the Railroad Earth

18. (Tie) Left Lane Cruiser - Shake and Bake

20. Hayes Carll - What It Is



2018

1. Lucero - Among the Ghosts

2. Jamie Lin Wilson - Jumping Over Rocks

3. Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You

4. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

5. Cody Jinks - Lifers

6. Joshua Hedley - Mr. Jukebox

7. American Aquarium - Things Change

8. Ruston Kelly - Dying Star

9. Whitey Morgan & the .78s - Hard Times & White Lines

10. Dallas Moore - Mr. Honky Tonk

11. Shooter Jennings - Shooter

12. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers - Years

13. Brent Cobb - Providence Canyon

14. Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere

15. Caleb Caudle - Crushed Coins

16. John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness

17. Great Peacock - Gran Pavo Real

18. Blackberry Smoke - Find a Light

19. Sleep - The Sciences

20. High on Fire - Electric Messiah



2017

1. Tyler Childers - Purgatory

2. Turnpike Troubadours - A Long Way From Your Heart

3. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound

4. Colter Wall - s/t

5. Chris Stapleton - From A Room, Vol. 2

6. Gregg Allman - Southern Blood

7. Jason Eady - s/t

8. John Moreland - Big Bad Luv

9. Shinyribs - I Got Your Medicine

10. Travis Meadows - First Cigarette

11. The Steel Woods - Straw in the Wind

12. J.D. McPherson - Undivided Heart & Soul

13. Chris Stapleton - From A Room, Vol. 1

14. Zephaniah OHora - This Highway

15. Steve Earle - So You Wannabe An Outlaw

16. Lee Ann Womack - The Lonely, The Lonesome and The Gone

17. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Youth Detention

18. Hellbound Glory - Pinball

19. Lillie Mae - Forever and Then Some

20. Margo Price - All American Made



2016

1. Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth

2. Cody Jinks - I'm Not the Devil

3. Lori McKenna - The Bird and the Rifle

4. Brent Cobb - Shine On Rainy Day

5. Austin Lucas - Between the Moon and the Midwest

6. Justin Wells - Dawn in the Distance

7. Flatland Cavalry - Humble Folks 

8. Drive-by Truckers - American Band

9. Blackberry Smoke - Like an Arrow

10. Caleb Caudle - Carolina Ghost

11. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got it From Here…

12. (tie) Jeff Shepherd & the Jailhouse Poets - s/t

12. (tie) The Sword - Low Country

14. Luke Bell - s/t

15. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial

16. Brandy Clark - Big Day in a Small Town

17. Elizabeth Cook - Exodus of Venus

18. Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward - Bomber Heights

19. Arliss Nancy - Greater Divides

20. Quaker City Night Hawks - El Astronauta



2015

 (2015 was the first year we did a staff-voted list)

1. Turnpike Troubadours - s/t

2. James McMurtry - Complicated Game

3. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free

4. Chris Stapleton - Traveller

5. Whitey Morgan - Sonic Ranch

6. American Aquarium - Wolves 

7. The Yawpers - American Man

8. Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Ruffian's Misfortune

9. John Moreland - High on Tulsa Heat

10. Jonathan Tyler - Holy Smokes

11. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (tie)

William Clark Green - Ringling Road (tie)

Jason Boland and the Stragglers - Squelch (tie)



2014

1. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

2. The War on Drugs - Lost In the Dream

3. Adam Faucett - Blind Water Finds Blind Water

4. Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers

5. Old 97's - Most Messed Up

6. Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else

7. Run the Jewels - RTJ2

8. Kelsey Waldon - The Goldmine

9. Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden

10. Lee Ann Womack - The Way I'm Livin'

11. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Dereconstructed

12. Stoney Larue - Aviator

13. Tami Neilson - Dynamite!

14. Cory Branan - The No-Hit Wonder

15. Fire Mountain - All Dies Down

16. St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Half the City

17. Don Williams - Reflections

18. Matt Woods - With Love From Brushy Mountain

 19. Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives - Saturday Night/Sunday Morning

20. Jimbo Mathus - Dark Night of the Soul



2013

1. John Moreland - In the Throes

2. Jason Isbell - Southeastern

3. Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain

4. Arliss Nancy - Wild American Runners

5. Drew Kennedy - Wide Listener

6. Run the Jewels - RTJ

7. Brandy Clark - 12 Stories

8. Austin Lucas - Stay Reckless

9. Fifth on the Floor - Ashes and Angels

10. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose

11. The National - Trouble Will Find Me

12. Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer, Different Park

13. Shooter Jennings - The Other Life

14. Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork

15. Ha Ha Tonka - Lessons

16. Son Volt - Honky Tonk

17. Guy Clark - My Favorite Picture of You

18. Possessed by Paul James - There Will Be Nights When I'm Lonely

19. Vince Gill and Paul Franklin - Bakersfield

20. Todd Farrell Jr. and the Dirty Birds - All Our Heroes Live in Vans



2012

1. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - There is a Bomb in Gilead

2. Marty Stuart - Nashville, Vol. 1 Tear The Woodpile Down

3. Chris Knight - Little Victories

4. The Pollies - Where the Lies Begin

5. Turnpike Troubadours - Goodbye Normal Street

6. The Departed - Adventus

7. Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears

8. Uncle Lucius - And You Are Me

9. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, M.A.A.D. City

10. The Trishas - High, Wide and Handsome

11. John D. Hale Band - More Than I Can Handle

12. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music

13. Lindi Ortega - Cigarettes & Truckstops

14. Shooter Jennings - Family Man

15. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls

16. Arliss Nancy - Simple Machines

17. Darrell Scott - Long Ride Home

18. Jason Eady - AM Country Heaven

19. Matt King - Apples and Orphans

20. Lucero - Women and Work



2011

1. The Damn Quails - Down the Hatch

2. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Here We Rest

3. Hellbound Glory - Damaged Goods

4. Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO

5. Jimbo Mathus - Confederate Buddha

6. Cary Anne Hearst - Lions and Lambs

7. Butch Walker and the Black Widows - The Spade

8. The Black Keys - El Camino

9. Adele - 21

10. Ponderosa - Moonlight Revival

11. Austin Lucas - A New Home, In the Old World

12. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Heart of a Dog

13. Stoney Larue - Velvet

14. Drew Kennedy - Fresh Water in the Salton Sea

15. Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire

16. Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels

17. Wilco - The Whole Love

18. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Scandalous

19. Mastodon - The Hunter

20. Will Hoge - Number Seven



2010

1. Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song

2. Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer

3. Two Cow Garage - Sweet Saint Me

4. Austin Collins & The Rainbirds - Wrong Control

5. Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

6. Joe Pug - Messenger

7. Trampled by Turtles - Palomino

8. Kasey Anderson - Nowhere Nights

9. Rodney Hayden - Tavern of Poets

10. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way

11. Paul Thorn - Pimps and Preachers

12. Truth & Salvage Co. - s/t

13. Dirty Sweet - American Spiritual

14. The Black Crowes - Croweology

15. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms

16. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis

17. Randy Houser - They Call Me Cadillac

18. Hellbound Glory - Old Highs and New Lows

19. The Black Keys - Brothers

20. Drive-by Truckers - The Big To-Do



2009

1. Charlie Robison - Beautiful Day

2. Ben Nichols - Last Pale Light in the West

3. Buddy and Julie Miller - Written in Chalk

4. Magnolia Electric Company - Josephine

5. Lucero - 1372 Overton Park

6. BettySoo - Heat Sin Water Skin

7. Wrinkle Neck Mules - Let the Lead Fly

8. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels

9. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Tell 'em What Your Name Is

10. Drew Kennedy - An Audio Guide to Cross Country Travel

11. The Black Crowes - Before the Frost...Until the Freeze

12. Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies

13. Son Volt - American Central Dust

14. The Devil Makes Three - Do Wrong Right

15. Slaid Cleaves - Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away

16. Joshua James - Build Me This

17. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane

18. Miranda Lambert - Revolution

19. Krizz Kaliko - Genius

20. Mastodon - Crack the Skye



2008 

1. Drive-by Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark

2. Jamey Johnson - That Lonesome Song

3. Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones

4. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers

5. Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind

6. Sun Kil Moon - April

7. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

8. The Felice Brothers - s/t

9. Two Cow Garage - Speaking in Cursive

10. Fleet Foxes - s/t

11. NQ Arbuckle - XOK

12. Blitzen Trapper - Furr

13. Chris Knight - Heart of Stone

14. Metallica - Death Magnetic

15. Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof

16. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound

17. Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life

18. Bruce Robison - The New World

19. The Steeldrivers - s/t

20. Drag The River - You Can't Live This Way

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