#30 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Peter Gabriel

i/o by Peter Gabriel

Somewhat unbelievably, here comes 75-year-old Peter Gabriel with a brand new album. After initially loving his 2010 cover concept album Scratch My Back (#27), my opinion of Gabriel soured due to the fall-out of that album’s companion I’ll Scratch Yours. It felt at the time that the theme of Gabriel covering other artists’ songs and then having those artists cover a Gabriel song was a desperate attempt by an aging artist to stay relevant in a musical world that was quickly outpacing him. David Bowie, Neil Young, and Radiohead backed out or never agreed to record a Gabriel song, and yet he pushed forward releasing covers of their songs, in what felt like an attempt to force those artists back to the table.

While that album floundered, Gabriel released an album of orchestral instrumental covers of his previous work, New Blood, in 2011, further cementing his place on the “past my prime so I’m milking the past” pedestal. The compilation of Gabriel covers by other artists eventually did get released, in 2013, as And I’ll Scratch Yours, with Brian Eno, Joseph Arthur, and Feist filling in for those who had backed out earlier. Neither of those albums made it onto the Top 31 that year.

Despite my best efforts to no longer like the man, I like i/o. The last time Gabriel released wholly new material was 2002’s Up — 21 years ago! Amazingly, some of the production for this new album began even earlier than that, in April 1995. Consequently, this album sounds like the Peter Gabriel you remember from the 90s. The fact that it still hits home speaks to the timelessness of his sound. Soft pop music under lyrics about life and death, with lively orchestration and soaring choruses. There’s no “Sledgehammer” or “Steam,” but you’ll recognize the song structures of “Don’t Give Up” or “Blood of Eden” in this new body of work.

Gabriel still suffers from an inability to edit himself, the mark of a performer still questioning himself and what his audience wants. i/o was released as a double-album, with each song having been mixed by two separate engineers: renowned English producer / engineer Spike Stent (“Bright-Side Mix”) and renowned Texas-born producer / engineer Tchad Blake (“Dark-Side Mix”). I’ve listened to both, and they’re equally good and frankly, not noticeably different enough to warrant the double-album treatment they’ve been given. A third, alternative Dolby Atmos mix was released separately, “In-Side Mix,” mixed by Hans-Martin Buff.

Despite the grandeur of presentation, if you’ve liked Gabriel at any point in your life, you owe it to yourself to give this new album a chance. Like me, you may be pleasantly surprised.

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31. Los Angeles by Jacknife Lee, Budgie & Lol Tolhurst

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#4 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Spoon

Lucifer On the Sofa by Spoon

After 30 years as a band, I can finally say Spoon is a Rock N’ Roll band with a capital N’. With nine albums of decidedly great indie rock under their belt, much of it classified as lowercase rock n’ roll, Spoon decided to crank their volume to 11 on Lucifer On the Sofa. Hit play on “Wild” above — listen to that heavy beat, those guitars and keyboards. You can just picture a dude in too-tight jeans strutting around a stage, playfully fondling a mic stand while twirling around the mic at the end of its tether. After that, put on “The Hardest Cut,” (fair warning: this is a rather disturbing music video — proceed with caution or just hit play and move the window off screen) and you can hear the band turning all the knobs to the right, giving the listener a visceral, guttural response that makes you bite your lower lip and thrust your hips.

Spoon, from Austin, Texas, have had two consistent members in their three decades: drummer Jim Eno, and principle songwriter and lead singer Britt Daniel. There have been 11 other guys that have slotted between those two in that span. The current lineup features keyboardist Alex Fischer (who was featured on their 2017 album Hot Thoughts — #7 in 2017), Gerardo Larios on backing guitar and vocals (joined in 2019), and Ben Trokan on bass, who only joined in 2021. It’s odd to think the band that recorded They Want My Soul back in 2014 (#3 that year) is out aside from Britt and Jim. It’s even more amazing when you consider how consistent the band has been in their 30 years. From their stellar debut, Telephono, in 1996 to now, every single one of Spoon’s album has been top notch.

So it’s all the more surprising to hear the band throw off the “indie” part of their sound and go full-on rawk. To commemorate their ascent to the top of Mt. Rock N’ Roll (not really, but go with me here), and prior to the release of Lucifer, the band released two Tom Petty covers they recorded in studio: “Breakdown” and “A Face in the Crowd.” Alex and Jim were masked up behind Britt because this was the height of the pandemic. Britt’s voice does some serious cracking, probably because he hasn’t been on a stage for a few years by this point. They also released a Bowie cover, “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” from Blackstar (#20 in 2016), to mark what would have been his 76th birthday in early January 2023.

All in all, Lucifer took most of the five years between it and Hot Thoughts to write and record. The band entered the pandemic in early 2020 with what they thought was a nearly completed album. And then Covid-19 changed things, as it did for everyone. Thankfully for us, it all changed for the even better. Check out the track “My Babe” for some less rocking, more traditional Spoon fare.

The band recorded some commentary for the three single they’ve released from the album: “My Babe behind the song,” “The Hardest Cut behind the song,” and “Wild behind the song.” All three videos show the trio – Britt, Jim, and Alex, giving us some insight into how the songs and the album came about. On top of that, the band collaborated with hit dub music producer Adrian Sherwood to release a track-by-track “reconstruction” of the album, called Lucifer on the Moon. And they released one video, for “On the Radio (Adrian Sherwood Reconstruction)” (funny enough).

In my review of Hot Thoughts in 2017, I started it by saying “Consistently good.” I might now add another adverb at the front of that statement, “Crazily, consistently good.” It truly is a wonder. Daniel and Eno (no relation to Brian or Roger) have proven themselves as master songwriters and performers. This past summer, the band went out with Interpol (#21 in 2014) on a double-headliner tour, and I got to see them play the Paramount here in Seattle. Unsure if it was like this at every stop, but in Seattle, Spoon opened for Interpol. It was a sweaty, bouncy, rocking affair — I exhausted my aging body and lost my voice, all before Interpol came on stage. And when they did, I nearly fell asleep. It was truly Interpol’s “night” to Spoon’s “day.” If you are a popular band, and are asked to co-headline a tour with Spoon, I think you should turn down the offer. You will not able to match the brilliance that is a Spoon show. On top of that, you‘d be hard-pressed to find any band who has been as good as Spoon has for so long. Pick up Lucifer, or any of their albums, and judge for yourself.

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5. Palomino by First Aid Kit
6. We've Been Going About This All Wrong by Sharon Van Etten
7. SOS by SZA
8. Wet Leg by Wet Leg
9. Chloë and the Next 20th Century by Father John Misty
10. Big Time by Angel Olsen
11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs

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#29 on the 2021 Bacon Top 31 — Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine

A Beginner’s Mind by Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine

Another year, another Sufjan Stevens album on the Bacon Top 31. The man is prolific. He‘s had four albums on the Top 31 (#9 last year, #30 in 2017, #4 in 2015, and famously #3 in 2010), and would have more if I’d been charting when his earlier 00’s albums were released.

As such, it’s hard to listen to any of his new music with unbiased ears. He’s settled into two basic musical modes: soft and delicate (similar to Elliott Smith) or electronic and noisy (think Reznor-era David Bowie), and I enjoy both greatly for different reasons. A Beginner’s Mind falls squarely in the quiet, dreamlike mode, almost like a downy blanket laid gently over your torso. It didn’t hit me as deeply as Carrie & Lowell, his tribute to his parents that hit #4 in 2015, but it’s loveliness clearly couldn’t keep it off the Top 31 entirely.

Each of Stevens’ albums have an overarching conceptual narrative hook, be it a US state (Michigan, Illinois) or mental health (The Age of Adz, Carrie & Lowell). A Beginner’s Mind is no different: each track from the album is inspired by a different movie of the 20th and 21st century. There are songs dedicated to films as varied as All About Eve, Hellraiser III, Bring It On Again, and Point Break. The beautiful “Cimmerian Shade” is sung from the perspective of Buffalo Bill, the serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs.

Stevens partnered with longtime friend and collaborator Angelo De Augustine, an LA-based singer/songwriter whose last two solo albums were released on Stevens’ record label Asthmatic Kitty. De Augustine’s solo work pairs nicely with Sufjan’s softer side – A Beginner’s Mind makes sense in either artist’s catalog.

If you like quieter, lightly strung instruments and near-whispered vocals, this album is definitely for you. By now you should know whether you like Sufjan or not. But if you‘re new to his music, don’t start here. Check out Illinois, from 2005. So much has come from that seminal work – I’m excited simply by the thought of someone opening the door and letter Sufjan in for the first time. You’re in for a musical visit unlike any other.

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30. Where the End Begins by Knathan Ryan
31. Private Space by Durand Jones & The Indications

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#18 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — Childish Gambino

3.15.20 by Childish Gambino

Time for another digression. “This is America,” a song that came out nearly two years ago (!), is a perfect song. It’s only gotten more perfect as Trump’s presidency has steamrolled over our democracy while our collective blinders to the massive presence of white supremacy have been slowly and then suddenly removed. In the song, Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, brilliantly raps, dances, and displays in the video the symbolism of a hypocritical world that squeezes every last drop of joy and attitude out of black culture for its own selfish amusement while simultaneously pressing its collective knee onto their metaphorical and literal necks.

When the horrific facts surrounding the devastating and extremely avoidable deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of the police surfaced, in what was already shaping up to be an insanely difficult year, the not-really-melting pot of America boiled over. Protests and vigils and marches began happening at regular intervals (monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily depending on where you lived in the country, and even outside of it) and still continue today, albeit on a much smaller scale. The heat of the summer combined with an inability to leave the house due to Covid-19 lockdowns (as well as smoke from months-long west coast wildfires) blended into a literal fever pitch of anger. All the while, “This is America” played in the background in my head.

Things continue to escalate, as our racist president has made it painfully clear that the bigots and nationalists and white supremacists have his full, undivided support. They have been empowered, and they’re coming out of hiding in droves. I’m ashamed at my own surprise at the truth, that this truly is America. This is who we are.

These painful acts that happen again and again with greater and greater frequency, and each day more horrifying than the last — I once was blind, but now I see. This is America. 57% of the white voting population did so for Trump in 2016. Despite four years of constant disgust and disgrace, and despite 20+ million more voters being added to the rosters, that same 57% of whites voted for Trump in 2020. The vast majority of white voters — 73% more than voted for Biden — voted for Trump. This is America. Centuries of oppression and segregation and suffering. This is America.

And Mr. Glover captures it all in the space of 4 minute song.

This truth weighs on my conscience, and I strive to raise my children in a way that opens their eyes to it. I don’t pretend to have the power or knowledge to fix any of it. But I do know I won’t be letting that fucking genie get back in the bottle.

/digression

“This is America” doesn’t appear on 3.15.20, but the song has never appeared on any album. Despite it being the song that has continually bounced around my head throughout 2020, I feature it here as 3.15.20 is Glover’s first album to come out since the release of “This is America.” Plus I needed another opportunity to watch the video.

3.15.20 is Glover’s fourth Childish Gambino album, and only the first to appear on the Bacon Top 31. I suppose I, too, in a way have been coming out from hiding these past four years. The album doesn’t hook you so much as seep into your skin upon multiple listenings. In his review for allmusic.com, Tim Sendra summed the album up well, saying it is:

“a challenging, hooky, mysterious, and odd record that feels like it was built out of pieces left over from a collision between OutKast, David Bowie, Sly & the Family Stone, and Prince. Add in bits borrowed from Flaming Lips, Tyler, The Creator, and Lee Perry, and it’s a mad scientist’s take on modern pop with Glover at the middle alternately crooning with honey-dipped sweetness, rapping menacingly, crying out in pain, and telling tales”

The call-backs to OutKast and Prince are glaring, but it’s the more subtle nudges toward Bowie and Sly that really get you. This is a soundscape more than a cohesive album. “42.26” (most of the songs on the album are titled by the time stamp they exist on the album), previously released on the 2018 Summer Pack EP titled “Feels Like Summer,” is the most radio-friendly song, and well worth the price of admission.

Glover is supremely talented. He has the potential to join the vaunted EGOT crowd. (To date, 16 people have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. Currently, Glover has only won grammys and emmys, but it wouldn’t be a stretch for him to earn the final two awards needed to complete the set.) He’s a performer, fully aware of his stardom and exploitation of the world around him for his own personal gain. But we’re all better off with him in the world, opening our eyes and reflecting back to us what I and so many other white people have ignored for far too long.

Rewatch the video above, often. Buy 3.15.20. And then use your power (and privilege) to make constant, significant, and lasting change.

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1. Saint Cloud by Waxahatchee
2. Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple
3. Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
4. folklore + evermore by Taylor Swift
5. Untitled (Black Is) + Untitled (Rise) by Sault
6. RTJ4 by Run The Jewels
7. Shore by Fleet Foxes
8. Serpentine Prison by Matt Berninger
9. The Ascension by Sufjan Stevens
10. Making a Door Less Open by Car Seat Headrest
11. Dreamland by Glass Animals
12. A Hero’s Death by Fontaines D.C.
13. Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez by Gorillaz
14. Mordechai + Texas Sun EP by Khruangbin
15. Introduction, Presence by Nation of Language
16. Free Love by Sylvan Esso
17. Miss Anthropocene by Grimes
18. 3.15.20 by Childish Gambino
19. Women In Music Pt. III by HAIM
20. The Third Mind by The Third Mind
21. Superstar by Caroline Rose
22. Impossible Weight by Deep Sea Diver
23. We Will Always Love You by The Avalanches
24. Ultra Mono by IDLES
25. Visions of Bodies Being Burned by clipping.
26. Thin Mind by Wolf Parade
27. The Loves of Your Life by Hamilton Leithauser
28. Palo Alto (Live) by Thelonious Monk
29. color theory by Soccer Mommy
30. Fall to Pieces by Tricky
31. Quarantine Casanova by Chromeo

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#6 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — The National

I Am Easy to Find by The National

Like my 2018 top 10, the top 10 of 2019 is chock full of former #1 artists, still out there producing stellar, boundary-pushing music. Like Elbow and Bon Iver, The National have consistently been in the top 10 with every release they’ve had during the life of The Bacon Review Top 31. It’s quite easy to argue that The National’s output has somehow gotten better with each release, despite having been #1 back in 2010, with High Violet. Their 2013 release, Trouble Will Find Me, was #2 to Phosphorescent’s all-time great album Muchacho, and their 2017 release, Sleep Well Beast, was #4, behind stellar output from Arcade Fire, Rostam, and Elbow. Yes, The National‘s output has gotten better with time, but the competition has gotten even better than that.

I Am Easy to Find, the eighth full-length album the band has released in their 21-year history, is yet another fantastic National album. It also marks a distinct departure for the band, veering off into territory they’ve never been in before. For starters, they’ve brought in a number of co- and lead vocalists to pair up with Matt Berninger, who embodies roughly half of the band’s lyrical output (with his wife Carin Besser) and their singular, deep-voiced lead singer. Gail Ann Dorsey, David Bowie’s long-time bassist and backing singer, takes the lead vocals from him halfway through the album’s opening song, “You Had Your Soul With You.” By the time you get through the all 63 minutes of the album, you’ve also heard Lisa Hannigan, Mina Tindle, Kate Stables, Sharon Van Etten, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus all take turns at the mic. It’s unexpected at every point of departure, and it works so well.

In addition to the beautiful music, the band also teamed up with Miranda July’s husband, filmmaker Mike Mills (did you see “Thumbsucker?”), to collaborate on not only the crafting of the album but the making of a 25-minute film starring Alicia Vikander (from “Ex Machina”). The film is quite moving, having Vikander portray the full life of a person, from baby to old age. The video above, for the quietly lovely “Light Years,” shows a condensed version of the film. Watch that, and then go watch the full thing.

At its core, The National continues to be Berninger and brothers Dessner (Aaron and Bryce) and Devendorf (Bryan and Scott). 2019 was a particularly busy year for the band. In addition to releasing the new album and film and touring around that new release:

• the band participated in a podcast about them: Coffee & Flowers, “a long-form examination of the Grammy-winning band’s music, going one album per season, one track per episode.”
• they released a cassette-based live album in a way only The National could: Juicy Sonic Magic was recorded over two nights at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, California, in a style known as “The Mike Millard Method” — Mike was a famous bootlegger who went so far as to sneak recording equipment into shows in a wheelchair he didn’t medically need.
• Bryce Dessner wrote the score for the great Netflix movie The Two Popes
• Matt Berninger appeared and sang in (with Phoebe Bridgers) the rather terrible movie version of Zach Galifianakis’s long-running internet show “Between Two Ferns”

I Am Easy to Find is not your typical National album, in all the right ways. If you’re not a fan of the band, this may be your best chance at getting in on something new, different, and great without it feeling too much like a National record. And if you are a National fan? What the hell are you doing, sitting here reading this article, rather than listening to the album?

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7. 5 + 7 by Sault
8. Giants of All Sizes by Elbow
9. i,i by Bon Iver
10. Kiwanuka by Michael Kiwanuka
11. The Destroyer (Parts 1 + 2) by TR/ST
12. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? by Billie Eilish
13. Cheap Queen by King Princess
14. Anima by Thom Yorke
15. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Parts 1 + 2 by Foals
16. Gallipoli by Beirut
17. My Finest Work Yet by Andrew Bird
18. Four of Arrows by Great Grandpa
19. Designer by Aldous Harding
20. Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey
21. Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow
22. Juice B Crypts by Battles
23. Pony by Orville Peck
24. Hyperspace by Beck
25. Eraserland by Strand of Oaks
26. Dogrel by Fontaines DC
27. You’re the Man by Marvin Gaye
28. Big Wows by Stealing Sheep
29. 1000 gecs by 100 gecs
30. In the Morse Code of Brake Lights by The New Pornographers
31. Radiant Dawn by Operators

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#1 on the 2017 Bacon Top 31

Little Fictions by Elbow

Here we are at the #1 album for 2017, Elbow’s absolutely stellar Little Fictions. The Top 31 is my way of trying to capture my year in music — what I was listening to, what I was enjoying. As the soundtrack to my life, the Top 31 is always influenced by the events from the year, but that’s not to say the events we all felt in 2017 are what drove my musical tastes. Ask anyone I consider a friend, they would probably say that 2017 was a shitty year for Americans. Over the year I grew more and more terrified by what is happening in our country, politically. But in my personal life, my year was far from shitty. It was quite glorious, in fact: I moved in with my girlfriend at the beginning of the year, and then we got pregnant shortly thereafter. We followed that by getting married in August and then the birth of our lovely daughter in October (if I had a Top Songs of All Time countdown, “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie would be #1 for 2017). That’s a lot of awesomeness to cram into one year.

Following me along throughout all of those experiences was this fantastic album by Elbow. For those of you that don’t know, Elbow is a band out of a small town outside of Manchester, England called Ramsbottom. While the band has been playing music together since 1990, they didn’t become “Elbow” until 1997 (which was still 21 years ago — and aside from drummer Richard Jupp leaving the band in 2016, replaced by session drummer Alex Reeves, they’ve performed with the same lineup for that entire time). Little Fictions is their seventh album in that span. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every release they’ve put out, and their last two albums were featured prominently on the Top 31s in their respective years (The Take Off and Landing of Everything was #2 in 2014; Build a Rocket Boys! was #5 in 2011).

I can’t talk highly enough about this band. Guy Garvey’s voice is like butter (and to unaccustomed ears, he sounds a lot like Peter Gabriel). The rest of the band (brothers Craig (keyboards) and Mark Potter (guitar), along with Pete Turner (bass)) put together one solid rock n roll hit after another. Often quiet, with key moments of electric bombast, the band manages crescendo like no other. And each album is every bit as good as the last. It’s an amazing feat.

This album — THIS ALBUM — may be the best yet. But that may also be how this album is tied to my experiences over the year. The first song on the album, “Magnificent (She Says),” featured in the video above, is Garvey’s response to how terrible 2016 was. He says in this video regarding the song that he needed a way to process all the shit that had happened. So he chose to look at it from the perspective of a wide-eyed little girl, full of innocence and love.

And there she stands
Throwing both her arms around the world
The world that doesn’t even know
How much it needs this little girl

It’s all gonna be magnificent, she says
It’s all gonna be magnificent

Glorious. Did I mention I now have a daughter, born only in October? And then there’s the second song, “Gentle Storm”:

Counting down, now the clocks reset when I met you
Do we start a new life?
Yours and my spit-shone restless hearts, they were meant to
Beat one time, share one fate
From this day

Gentle storm
Rage away
And fall in love with me
Fall in love with me
Fall in love with me
Everyday

Gobstopping. Did I mention I got married in August? Be sure to check out the video for that song, which features Benedict Cumberbatch.

From there, the album just continues unabated on its ascendance to greatness. “All Disco” sums up music and life nicely, the title from a quote by Frank Black (“whatever music you love, it’s all disco”). There’s a nice docu-video featuring that song. The last song on the album, “Kindling,” is a slow and quiet outro for the album that primes you for the replay you have inevitably already set up. There’s a great little acoustic alt-version of that song featuring a duet between Garvey and John Grant.

The penultimate song on the album, the title song “Little Fictions,” is an 8+ minute orchestral dream. Put on headphones and play it loud. The song starts with dissonant chords on a piano interplaying with a programmatic drum beat. Enter Garvey, singing about what feels like jabs in a relationship that has passed its due date. The chorus comes in:

We protect our little fictions
Like it’s all we are
Little wilderness mementos
But there’s only you and me here
Fire breathing
Hold tight
Waiting for the original miracle

And with that the song keeps building to one hell of a climax, violins and violence raging and building to the lyrical reveal: “Love is the original miracle.” Whether or not the couple in the song reconciles their differences is unclear, but you’ll most certainly feel spent at the end of it.

I can’t get enough of this band and this album. I want everyone to love them as I do. Give it a few listens. Put it on in the background, or play it loud in the fore. It will fill you with warmth and envelope you with joy.

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2. Half-Light by Rostam
3. Everything Now by Arcade Fire
4. Sleep Well Beast by The National
5. Soul of a Woman by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
6. Relaxer by Alt-J
7. Hot Thoughts by Spoon
8. Colors by Beck
9. Mental Illness by Aimee Mann
10. The Wild by The Rural Alberta Advantage
11. american dream by LCD Soundsystem
12. Crack-Up by Fleet Foxes
13. Famous Last Words by The True Loves
14. Cry Cry Cry by Wolf Parade
15. Pure Comedy by Father John Misty
16. Shake the Shudder by !!!
17. La La Land (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by La La Land
18. The Underside of Power by Algiers
19. What Now by Sylvan Esso
20. 50 Song Memoir by The Magnetic Fields
21. Plunge by Fever Ray
22. DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar
23. Capacity by Big Thief
24. The Tourist by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
25. CCFX EP by CCFX
26. Woodstock by Portugal. The Man
27. MASSEDUCTION by St. Vincent
28. On the Spot by Hot 8 Brass Band
29. A Deeper Understanding by The War on Drugs
30. Planetarium by Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, & James McAlister
31. A Moment Apart by Odesza

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#11 on the 2017 Bacon Top 31

american dream by LCD Soundsystem

Just like the Fleet Foxes at #12, the band at #11 broke up at the beginning of the decade, only to reunite to great triumph years later. But where the Fleet Foxes went away in 2011 with a whimper, James Murphy and his band LCD Soundsystem went out in the biggest way possible, playing their “last show ever” at Madison Square Garden along with four warm-up shows at Terminal 5 in New York. The build up to those last shows was even followed by a documentary about the experience. It features many non-performance shots of Murphy in his daily life as well as him being interviewed by Chuck Klosterman, called Shut Up and Play the Hits (it’s great, if you haven’t seen it I recommend it highly). The band was 100% dead by the end of 2012.

Or so it seemed. Three years later, the rumors started flying around the internet that LCD Soundsystem was going to be reuniting in 2016. Thankfully, the rumors proved to be true. They reunited, and then proceeded to record this album, american dream, which is truly great. It sounds as if the band never went anywhere, picking up exactly where they left off in sound and stature. This isn’t the first time LCD Soundsystem has appeared on the Top 31. Their previous album, This is Happening, was #21 that year (looking back, I should have ranked it much higher, probably around #11 or #12, as I continue to listen to it fairly regularly).

Much like past LCD albums, there are one or two klunker songs, but overall it’s superb. The same influences are there (David Bowie being most prominent), with the same unmistakable sound and James Murphy’s near-spoken lyrics. If you’ve liked past LCD Soundsystem albums, you’ll like this one every bit as much.

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12. Crack-Up by Fleet Foxes
13. Famous Last Words by The True Loves
14. Cry Cry Cry by Wolf Parade
15. Pure Comedy by Father John Misty
16. Shake the Shudder by !!!
17. La La Land (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by La La Land
18. The Underside of Power by Algiers
19. What Now by Sylvan Esso
20. 50 Song Memoir by The Magnetic Fields
21. Plunge by Fever Ray
22. DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar
23. Capacity by Big Thief
24. The Tourist by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
25. CCFX EP by CCFX
26. Woodstock by Portugal. The Man
27. MASSEDUCTION by St. Vincent
28. On the Spot by Hot 8 Brass Band
29. A Deeper Understanding by The War on Drugs
30. Planetarium by Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, & James McAlister
31. A Moment Apart by Odesza

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2009-2016 Top 31s

#14 on the 2016 Bacon Top 31

You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen

Now that we’re into the better half of the Top 31, there tends to be for me more invested in the albums featured. Take this album at #14, Leonard Cohen’s masterful — and final — album. Cohen was a month into his 83rd year when he released You Want It Darker. He died three weeks after its release, bringing new light to the album’s overt themes of death and god.

Cohen released his first album at 33, after failing to earn a living writing poetry and fiction. You Want It Darker was only his 14th release across his 49-year musical career, a pace of an album every 3½ years. That should tell you something about his dedication to his craft. This album is indicative of his later efforts, with Cohen’s spoken-word poetry layered over sparse strings, guitar, and quiet brushed percussion. There should be a section at the record store called “gravel,” dedicated to the later-year Cohen, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan albums that all speak volumes to the lifetimes these men have bared openly for us, the listeners.

As it was for David Bowie’s final album (featured earlier in the 2016 Bacon Top 31), Cohen’s death permeates every beat of this album. It’s impossible to listen to it without picturing the man on his deathbed, contemplating the previous 82 years and what it all meant. This is not a bad thing, it’s not a dark cloud that hovers. But it’s not happy either. It simply is. One has to imagine that once he got into his eighties, he’d had a long and fruitful life, content with where he’d been and what he’d done. His legacy will live on well past 2016, and this album will play a big part in that.

Hallelujah.

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15. Painting Of A Panic Attack by Frightened Rabbit
16. Why Are You OK by Band Of Horses
17. Not To Disappear by Daughter
18. Sunlit Youth by Local Natives
19. I Had a Dream That You Were Mine by Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam
20. ★ by David Bowie
21. Farewell, Starlite! by Francis and the Lights
22. This Unruly Mess I’ve Made by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
23. LNZNDRF by LNZNDRF
24. Puberty 2 by Mitski
25. Light Upon the Lake by Whitney
26. A Corpse Wired for Sound by Merchandise
27. Away by Okkervil River
28. case/lang/veirs by case/lang/veirs
29. Love Letter for Fire by Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop
30. Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future by Underworld
31. Preoccupations by Preoccupations

#20 on the 2016 Bacon Top 31

★ by David Bowie

We lost quite a few great musicians in 2016. Prince. Leonard Cohen. Sharon Jones. Phife Dawg. And Bowie. David fucking Bowie. I can’t say his death was the hardest to take. They were all difficult. But it wasn’t easy, that’s for sure.

He presented himself to us as a pure entertainer, his life for the stage, and Bowie orchestrated his death in exactly that same way. He released ★ (aka Blackstar), his 25th album, on his 69th birthday, January 8, 2016. Two days later he died of complications from liver cancer, something he’d been secretly battling for a year and a half. From Tony Visconti, the coproducer of the album:

“He always did what he wanted to do. And he wanted to do it his way and he wanted to do it the best way. His death was no different from his life — a work of art. He made ★ for us, his parting gift. I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn’t, however, prepared for it. He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us. For now, it is appropriate to cry.”

This is a sad, exhausting album. The sadness comes from the overt lyrics, which Bowie wrote about the experience of cancer treatment and impending death. The exhaustion comes from knowing what Bowie must have been feeling, himself, as he wrote it, which comes through in every slow tempo, every bass beat. It’s the perfect counter to the previous album on the countdown, Farewell, Starlite! Sure, there are many albums I’d reach for to memorialize Bowie by before reaching for this one, but ★ is still the perfect swan song, and I can’t recommend it enough.

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21. Farewell, Starlite! by Francis and the Lights
22. This Unruly Mess I’ve Made by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
23. LNZNDRF by LNZNDRF
24. Puberty 2 by Mitski
25. Light Upon the Lake by Whitney
26. A Corpse Wired for Sound by Merchandise
27. Away by Okkervil River
28. case/lang/veirs by case/lang/veirs
29. Love Letter for Fire by Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop
30. Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future by Underworld
31. Preoccupations by Preoccupations

David Bowie — Lazarus

On Friday, David Bowie turned 69 and released his 26th album, Blackstar, to critical acclaim. By the end of the day on Sunday, he was dead, having succumbed to an 18-month battle with cancer.

I love David Bowie, and his music will be with me forever, changing, growing, shedding light in otherwise dark corners. He will be sorely missed.

The awesome video above is for the exceedingly honest song “Lazarus” from the new album. In it, he’s all but literally telling us he’s dying:

Look up here, I’m in heaven
I’ve got scars that can’t be seen
I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen
Everybody knows me now

Look up here, man, I’m in danger
I’ve got nothing left to lose
I’m so high it makes my brain whirl
Dropped my cell phone down below

Ain’t that just like me

By the time I got to New York
I was living like a king
Then I used up all my money
I was looking for your ass

This way or no way
You know, I’ll be free
Just like that bluebird
Now ain’t that just like me

Oh I’ll be free
Just like that bluebird
Oh I’ll be free
Ain’t that just like me

And now he’s free.

#14 on the 2013 Musical Bacon Calendar

The Next Day by David Bowie

What could I possibly write here that would push you to listen to this amazing new album by David Bowie if you haven’t already listened to it?

Just do it. Don’t sit here any longer. Go buy the album, and marvel at the fact that a 66 year old man can still make fantastic and relevant rock ’n’ roll music in 2013. Nobody can hold a candle to what this man has accomplished in his career.

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15. Reflektor by Arcade Fire
16. We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic by Foxygen
17. Lanters by Son Lux
18. Howlin’ by Jagwar Ma
19. Impersonator by Majical Cloudz
20. Dream Cave by Cloud Control
21. Mole City by Quasi
22. Phantogram by Phantogram
23. Julia With Blue Jeans On by Moonface
24. Uncanney Valley by The Dismemberment Plan
25. Event II by Deltron 3030
26. Wise Up Ghost by Elvis Costello and The Roots
27. Us Alone by Hayden
28. Pure Heroine by Lorde
29. Shaking the Habitual by The Knife
30. False Idols by Tricky
31. Let’s Be Still by The Head and the Heart

2012 Musical Bacon Calendar
2011 Musical Bacon Calendar
2010 Musical Bacon Calendar
2009 Musical Bacon Calendar

I love David Bowie. Throw in James Murphy and its verging on a level of decadence that shouldn’t be readily available. It sets a precedent that other songs simply can’t meet.

OK, I’m scared.

Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, David Bowie. Not quite SFW.

That is all.

Here’s another video from David Bowie’s forthcoming album The Next Day, due out March 12. The song is called “The Stars (Are Out Tonight),” and I quite like it. The video stars Tilda Swinson, but it’s still every bit as weird — moreso even — than the last video.

merlin:

Queen and David Bowie - “Under Pressure” (isolated lead vocal tracks)

Haunting.

Listen for Freddie’s ungodly range on the bit from 1:58-2:10.

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UPDATED: In honor of Mr. Bowie’s birthday—and, in deference to your Stressful Modern Lifestyle—here’s a relaxing ringtone I made for you.

God damn.

David Bowie has a new album coming out in March called The Next Day. The first single from the album, titled “Where Are We Now?” is featured in the strange video above.

Like all David Bowie songs, this one will probably take a while to sink in, but in the end will be loved like all the rest. There are some classic Bowie videos on the “Vision” page that you should also watch. CANNOT WAIT for the tour announcement.