Showing posts with label Hiss Golden Messenger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hiss Golden Messenger. Show all posts

Dec 30, 2014

Farce the Music's Top 20 Albums of 2014


You were expecting something else, maybe? Metamodern Sounds in Country Music is epic. Despite there only being 9 songs on the official release (plus a bonus track), this is a big big record. Simpson takes the hard country brilliance we all loved on High Top Mountain and expands on the textures and topics. He gets weird in a few places, trippy and edgy even, but it never feels like a put on. This is where Sturgill wanted to go and he hopes we'll come along, but whatever. I'm in.

Mark Kozelek may not agree, but Lost in the Dream is an immersing record, long in listen and longer in ear-pleasing sounds. Though popular in indie rock circles, there's little about Lost in the Dream that fits that usually intentionally prickly sub-genre. It's an easy-to-listen-to, hard to quickly digest collection of atmospheric classic rock, steeped in the sounds of Dylan, Springsteen, Dire Straits and the like. Mark Koz (Sun Kil Moon) said it's "beer commercial guitar rock," but he doesn't like anything not frocked with stream of consciousness lyrics and picked on a nylon string guitar. Other detractors have called it boring, and I would have agreed after a couple of listens. Once it clicked though, Lost in the Dream burrowed its way in and stuck with me throughout the year. It's a beautiful album whose strength lies in its commitment to to a cohesive sound and an unapologetic earnestness.

 
A deep and beautiful record, as easy to enjoy on first listen as it is difficult to fully grasp on the 30th. Faucett's voice would be the clear calling card if the writing weren't so damn good as well. It's an album that sticks with you long after the final notes have faded. It sounds like nothing else released in 2014.


I lack the proper words to tell you why I love this album or why you should too. It's damn good or it wouldn't be at #4. Check the context. That's enough of a review. RIYL: Deer Tick, Bob Dylan, The Band, Jimbo Mathus.


The band goes back to their roots with fantastic results on this raucous and hedonistic trip of an album. It's billed as a look back at their career, but Most Messed Up feels far more lived-in than a simple recollection. The attitude is cocky and contagious, the partying over-the-top, the drinks frequent, and the music is rocking. They've been doing this "longer than you've been alive" and it sounds like they're still way better at it than anybody else. There's a little regret and some soul-searching but all-in-all, this is no nostalgia project - it's a reclaiming of what makes Old 97s a vital and legendary alternative country act.


Lydia blends pop sensibilities into her rockabilly side on Somewhere Else and crafts a versatile and fulfilling piece of roots-rock-pop-abilly or whatever you wanna call it. It's a well-written, liberated and enchanting performance with memorable songs that sound like hits from a world with better taste.

Darker and more focused than last year's debut from the duo, Run the Jewels 2 kicks out windshields and smacks around f**kboys, all the while sounding infinitely more intelligent and purpose-driven than most of their contemporaries. This is anarchy with reason, chaos with a plan, savagery with a heart. The interplay of El-P's off-kilter lyricism and Killer Mike's straightforward bomb-dropping makes their message hit all the harder.


Kelsey Waldon sounds more vulnerable and confessional than say, Loretta Lynn, on these 11 tracks but she's every bit as sure of herself. Hers is a sweet voice that belies a depth of realism and a spirit that forgives but never forgets. It's a world-weary but optimistic outlook that keeps The Goldmine from ever sinking into despair. It's a moving and memorable album that should easily satisfy fans of classic country and modern Americana, and make Waldon an artist to watch for years to come.


The heavier realms of metal call out to me a few times a year, and while not qualified to write about such music adequately, I inevitably end up loving some of what I come across. Pallbearer is a doom metal band, but apparently Foundations of Burden isn't true doom metal or something something blah blah I read in reviews by true metal aficionados. All I know is that I do like doom and stoner metal, and that Foundations of Burden fits right in for me. It's dark, slow, anthemic, epic and driving. Some of it sounds a little prog-rock with its endless journeying, but there's always a destination here, it's not riffing on just for the hell of it. Maybe what sets Pallbearer apart the most for me is that lead singer Brett Campbell actually has a good voice. He can't wail with the classic metal gods like Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford, but he's certainly from that school of vocalizing.  The hypnotic 10 minute 17 second "Ghost I Used to Be" is even more epic in sound than length; it's one of my favorite songs of the year - and likely my favorite song ever from the doom metal genre. Non-metal fans probably shouldn't bother with this detour from FTM's usual fare. For the rest: throw some Iron Maiden, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Queensryche into a blender on low-speed for reference. Amazing album - deserving of far better words written about it.


Womack sounds as assured and authentic as ever on this collection of memorable and well-chosen songs. She's a treasure and it's good to have her back, especially with such a worthy return.


Dereconstructed loudly takes on the "duality of the Southern thing" that Drive-by Truckers explored years ago on Southern Rock Opera. LBIII does it their own way: angry, political at times, and amped-up at nearly all times. The lyrics, which you may or may not be able to make out without reading the album booklet, are smart, poetic and often biting.


This is a downer of a Red Dirt country album that will leave you feeling surprisingly hopeful. LaRue tries out a variety of styles including folksy introspection, country rock, and even a little 70's-style Mellotron swoon - finding them all fitting in this deeply personal but highly relatable gem.


RIYL: Patsy Cline, Lydia Loveless.



Fire Mountain's All Dies Down harkens back to the 90s glory days of alt-country, bringing to mind the guitar pop of The Gin Blossoms, the addictive low-key melodies of Whiskeytown, and the edgy jangle of R.E.M.'s more country-leaning tunes. All Dies Down isn't stuck in that era by any means, but it certainly draws deeply from the well.




Don Williams sounds as good now as he did in his '80s heyday, maybe better. The excellent "I'll Be Here in the Morning" reassures a lover that "I'll be here for a while." God, I hope so.


Matt Woods has released his strongest album to date with With Love from Brushy Mountain. He's shaken off some of the "spot the influence" unsureness I heard in his earlier works and found his own voice and sound. This is country music filtered through rock, folk, punk, red-dirt and bar room soul and it doesn't sound like anybody else.

 
The early '90s might have been Stuart's commercial peak, but he's on the long swell of an artistic wave like none other right now. SN/SM shows off every facet of he and his expert band's absurd skill set of virtuoustic talents across an expansive collection of songs that never overstays its welcome.


Dark Night of the Soul presents all aspects of Jimbo Mathus: soul-singer, folksy storyteller, strutting rocker, country songwriter - there's little he can't do and sound masterful doing it. The most gripping thing about this record is just how little Mathus holds back. He's found his groove and is barreling headlong and breathlessly forward.

Nov 13, 2014

New Video: Hiss Golden Messenger - Mahogany Dread

From the definite top 10 of 2014 album, Lateness of Dancers, here's Hiss Golden Messenger with "Mahogany Dread."


Sep 12, 2014

YouTube Gems: Hiss Golden Messenger

From the critically-beloved new album, Lateness of Dancers, here's Hiss Golden Messenger with "Lucia."


Dec 30, 2013

FTM's Favorite Albums of 2013: 21-60






22. Band of Heathens - Sunday Morning Record

23. Tim Easton - Not Cool

24. Quaker City Night Hawks - Honcho


25. Caitlin Rose - The Stand-in

26. Charlie Robison - High Times

27. Water Liars - Wyoming

28. Buffalo Gospel - We Can Be Horses

29. William Clark Green - Rose Queen


30. Doc Feldman and the LD50 - Sundowning at the Station

31. Lindi Ortega - Tin Star

32. Robbie Fulks - Gone Away Backward

33. Chris King - 1983

34. JJ Grey & Mofro - This River

35. Shinyribs - Gulf Coast Museum


36. Valerie June - Pushin' Against a Stone

37. The Wood Brothers - The Muse

38. The White Buffalo - Shadows, Greys and Evil Ways

39. Will Hoge - Never Give In

40. The Statesboro Revue - Ramble on Privilege Creek

41. Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis - Cheater's Game

42. Deer Tick - Negativity

43. J. Roddy Walston and The Business - Essential Tremors

44. The Mavericks - In Time

45. Javi Garcia - The Great Controversy

46. Jimbo Mathus - White Buffalo

47. The Winery Dogs - s/t

48. Holly Williams - The Highway

49. Alan Jackson - The Bluegrass Album

50. Red City Radio - Titles

51. Clutch - Earth Rocker


52. Charlie Worsham - Rubberband

53. North Mississippi Allstars - World Boogie is Coming

54. Zane Williams - Overnight Success

55. Cage the Elephant - Melophobia

56. Earl Sweatshirt - Doris

57. Hiss Golden Messenger - Haw

58. Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap

59. Jason Boland and the Stragglers - Dark and Dirty Mile

60. Dallas Moore Band - Blessed Be the Bad Ones

Very Honorable Mentions:
Bonnie Whitmore - There I Go Again, Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck - Eden, The Devil Makes Three - I'm a Stranger Here, George Strait - Love is Everything, The Avett Brothers - Magpie and the Dandelion, The Weeks - Dear Bo Jackson, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell - Old Yellow Moon, Dawes - Stories Don't End, I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House - Mayberry, Jayke Orvis & the Broken Band - Bless This Mess, Owen Temple - Stories They Tell, Have Gun Will Travel - Fiction, Fact or Folktale?, Lorde - Pure Heroine, The Wild Feathers - s/t, Phosphorescent - Muchacho, Lincoln Durham - Exodus of the Deemed Unrighteous, Star Anna - Go to Hell, The Deadfields - Often Wrong Never in Doubt, Left Lane Cruiser - Rock Them Back to Hell, Hank 3 - Brothers of the 4x4, Kellie Pickler - The Woman I Am, D.B. Rielly - Cross My Heart + Hope to Die, Amanda Shires - Down Fell the Doves, Brett Detar - Too Free to Live, Blitzen Trapper - VII, Mando Saenz - Studebaker, Cody Canada - Some Old, Some New, Maybe a Cover or Two, Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City, Childish Gambino - Because the Internet

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