#19 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Phosphorescent

The Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent

The only artist to have ever taken the #1 slot twice (and #20 in 2010) in Bacon Review history slots in way back at #19 in the 2022 Top 31. Matthew Houck, the driving force behind Phosphorescent, did something a little different with his 2022 release. Called The Full Moon Project, Houck recorded and released a new single for every full moon through out the year, resulting in more of a “slow-building playlist” rather than a formally-released, purchasable album.

Each song on the project is a cover. Randy Newman, Nick Lowe, Nina Simone, Lucinda Williams, Fleetwood Mac, and Bob Dylan (x2) songs all make the cut. It’s not Houck’s first foray into an album full of covers – see his 2008 album To Willie, an homage to the great Willie Nelson. And he’s done a handful of covers in the interim, the hands down best being “Ya Hey,” which he did live at KCRW back in 2013. You wouldn’t know it by listening to the Vampire Weekend original, from their album Modern Vampires of the City (#3 in 2013), but Houck proves those fantastic Ezra Koenig lyrics weren’t meant to be in a Phosphorescent song.

Houck has an unmistakable drawl, a purposeful laziness in his delivery that forces you to slow your pace, close your eyes and lean in. He conveys the warmth of burning embers in your headphones. On The Full Moon Project, he makes each song his own. Sometimes, like the lovely “Like A Rolling Stone” shown above, it’s not too much of a stretch from the original (I never considered how much Houck could sound like the elder Dylan until now). But other times, such as in his cover of “To Love Somebody,” the Nina Simone song from her 1969 album of the same name, his take on the song makes it seem as if the original never existed.

It’s not clear whether the project is now complete, or just on hiatus. He didn’t release a song on the January 2023 full moon (which occurred back on January 6). But the post with his last Full Moon song, Dylan’s “Tryin’ To Get To Heaven,” released on December 7, 2022, Houck said “I may have to put [the project] on hold for next year, as I gotta make the next proper Phossy record, and man this stuff takes a lotta time! But maybe not too. We'll see what happens come next full moon…” I’ll be sure to update this post if he does record some more Full Moon songs. In the mean time, this current collection of songs and his nine unbelievably great albums that led up to it will tide me over until we get “the next proper Phossy record.”

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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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#23 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Orville Peck

Pony by Orville Peck

When country music makes it onto the Top 31, it usually has a hard time being fully classified as “country music.” Phosphorescent, Neko Case, First Aid Kit — in a certain light, these could all be classified as country, but usually aren’t. This is untrue of the obscured and befringed Canadian artist Orville Peck, whose wonderful debut album Pony couldn’t fall into any other genre than Country with a capital “C.” This isn’t “my wife left me, my dog died, and I accidentally got drunk” kinda country, but it does feature rodeos, horseback riding, and a Johnny Cash name-drop in all the right ways.

You may not have heard of Peck, but you’ve likely seen him. His visage is quite memorable; he’s always seen in a lone-ranger style mask with fringe attached and hanging down to his shoulders, fully obscuring all but his eyes and most of his jawline and neck when at rest; atop that he wears a standard-issue, not-quite 10-gallon cowboy hat.

Despite his public-facing disguise, his identity is known, but remains unconfirmed by Peck himself. So I won’t perpetuate the information here. What I can tell you is he’s Canadian, he’s gay, he commands a magical baritone voice, and his stage presence is second to none. The mystery certainly contributes to what I and so many other people like about him, but once you learn the truth of who he is, that doesn’t quell the fervor people feel for him.

I’d been hearing of Peck (which is different from hearing Peck) since the beginning of the year. I found him intriguing, but didn’t scratch that itch until he was on the bill at the inaugural Thing NW music festival. He played to a crowd that sardined itself into the covered McCurdy Pavilion about midway through day 1, and ended up being the highlight for many at the festival. A friend of mine’s 10-year old daughter fell so madly in love, she bought a tee (he’s smoking a cigarette! *gasp*) and then created her own Peck costume for halloween. Such is the charisma of Mr. Orville Peck, winning fans over at all ages.

I trust we’ll have much more to love about Peck in the years to come. We’re just at the tip of the iceberg. Give this album a listen now, so you can say “I was there when…”

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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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2009-2018 Top 31s

#1 on the 2018 Bacon Top 31 — Phosphorescent

C’est La Vie by Phosphorescent

The number one album of 2018 is by Matthew Houck, aka Phosphorescent, and it’s not the first time he’s enjoyed the top spot of the Top 31. His last album, Muchacho, was #1 back in 2013 (and the album before that was #20 in 2010, one of many rankings over the past 10 years that I clearly misjudged at the time).

When I started ranking 2018’s albums at the end of December, and I grouped my potential #1 albums together, I groaned. I knew I needed to put Chvrches and Phosphorescent at the top — they were my definite favorites from the year — but had real reservations about doing so because they’d both been #1 their last time up. I’d successfully avoided having any repeat #1 albums in the past, as I think it makes a statement about the band and my tastes I’m not quite willing to accept: am I too predictable, stuck in the musical rut of middle age?

C’est La Vie, Houck’s 9th studio album, and his first in five years, is every bit as good but very different from Muchacho. That’s because Houck is in a vastly different space than he was five years ago (and so, too, am I). In that span, he managed to have not one but two children, get married, and move to Nashville. While his previous albums have been chock full of heartache, pain, and suffering, C’est La Vie bubbles with life and happiness.

Just listen to the track above, “New Birth in New England.” This is not the voice of a drunkenly depressed man, this is bouncy joy. Smack dab in the middle of the song, the bridge is a quiet moment — the slide guitar slows down, the hymnal angel chorus chimes in, and the familiar woosh woosh woosh sound of a sonogram, that first heartbeat that expectant parents hear, proving that there’s life growing inside the mother’s belly, wafts up from the depths. If you haven’t yet been through pregnancy, then that sound may not be familiar to you. But as a father of two, it’s oh so familiar, and comes with such joyous weight, it’s hard not to well up with happy tears any time I hear it. The specific recording on the song is from the first time Houck heard his own daughter’s heartbeat. Magical.

Later on in the album, the song “Beautiful Boy” plainly states the subject of the song — Houck’s now five-year-old son. It’s an ode to every parent’s everlasting fear of being unable to protect their children enough. It’s gut-wrenching and wonderful at the same time. The music of Phosphorescent always seems to pull at those dual strings, but in the past the direction being tugged has been downward. It’s a lovely feeling, finally being pulled in the other direction by a voice I’ve been loving for so many years.

One of the great joys of marriage is being able to share all the things you love, and having your partner fall in love with some of those things as well. My wife patiently tolerates my constant music playing, and she often likes what she hears. She will latch onto certain sounds, especially if they’re loved by the children as well. Phosphorescent held a special place in my heart long before I met my wife, so it was with even more joy than usual that I excitedly watched her own blossoming love of the band. In November, I got to take her to her first Phosphorescent show, and Houck did not disappoint. His performance of “Wolves” (which I managed to record), is performed solo, and shows the full range of his vocal talents. After the song’s few verses, Houck pushes his voice through a repeater, layer upon layer, until it mimics the pack of wolves he sings about. It’s gorgeous and deeply moving.

C’est La Vie has a special power. It feels innocent enough your first couple times through. But then you catch yourself humming the tunes when you’re not listening, filling in the quiet moments with little spoken phrases you can’t quite place. You invariably hear yourself, question the little tune’s origin, and then finally put it together. It surprises you like a random toy left out that’s imbued with the power of phosphorescence — you forget it’s there until you turn out the lights.

Pick up C’est La Vie. And then every other album Phosphorescent has released. After ten years of charting my Top 31 of the year, I can honestly say there’s never been someone as consistently good as Matthew Houck. Join me while I rejoice in his music; you will be pleasantly rewarded, every time.

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2. Love Is Dead by Chvrches
3. Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) by Car Seat Headrest
4. Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
5. The Horizon Just Laughed by Damien Jurado
6. Chris by Christine and the Queens
7. Wanderer by Cat Power
8. Tell Me How You Really Feel by Courtney Barnett
9. The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs by Wye Oak
10. Ruins by First Aid Kit
11. Cocoa Sugar by Young Fathers
12. Loner by Caroline Rose
13. Big Red Machine by Big Red Machine
14. I’ll Be Your Girl by The Decemberists
15. The More I Sleep the Less I Dream by We Were Promised Jetpacks
16. Joy as an Act of Resistance by IDLES
17. Hell-On by Neko Case
18. Superorganism by Superorganism
19. Living in Extraordinary Times by James
20. Thank You for Today by Death Cab for Cutie
21. Black Panther: The Album by Kendrick Lamar
22. Suspiria (Music for the Luca Guadagnino Film) by Thom Yorke
23. Merrie Land by The Good, the Bad & the Queen
24. Room 25 by Noname
25. WARM by Jeff Tweedy
26. God's Favorite Customer by Father John Misty
27. Vessel by Frankie Cosmos
28. For Ever by Jungle
29. Twerp Verse by Speedy Ortiz
30. Remain in Light by Angélique Kidjo
31. This One’s for the Dancer & This One’s for the Dancer’s Bouquet by Moonface

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2009-2017 Top 31s

#5 on the 2014 Bacon Top 31

And the War Came by Shakey Graves

The band at #5 is actually the work of just one man, sometimes actor Alejandro Rose-Garcia. When he’s not trying to expand his acting career (he was on Friday Night Lights and Sin City 2!), he’s creating and performing folky, americana music as Shakey Graves. And the War Came is his second album, and it’s no joke that I’m placing it in the top 5 of the year. It is solid from start to finish.

In the same vein as Prince or Matthew Houck (aka Phosphorescent, last year’s #1 band), Rose-Garcia performs most of the instruments on the album. He does have a few guest stars, most notably Esmé Patterson, who shares songwriting credit with Rose-Garcia on three songs on the album and lends her beautiful voice to the harmonies on those same three songs (including “Dearly Departed” above).

Rose-Garcia resides in Austin, Texas, and he sometimes sings with a purposeful, lazy drawl (most prominent on the track “Pansy Waltz”), lending a flare of Nashville to the songs. Overall, the album feels very alt.country, in a good way. The stories he tells on the album revolve around relationships and living life. As he said in this interview on NPR’s World Cafe, this album is about “what it means to love and be loved. It’s a responsibility album.”

“Dearly Departed” is the most approachable song on the album, but it verges on cringe-worthy in all of its hand-clap glory. I fear it could reach the same level of over-played insanity that the Lumineers (fellow Dualtone label-mates), Of Monsters and Men, or Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have reached in years past. You can see Rose-Garcia and Patterson perform the song live on Conan, from a show back in October. I also recommend this live set on KEXP, from back in August. Four great songs, and you can really see the talent bubbling over.

I love this album. I can’t recommend it enough. Get. It. Now.

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6. Nicky Nack by tUnE-yArDs
7. Not Art by Big Scary
8. The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett by Eels
9. Owl John by Owl John
10. LP1 by FKA Twigs
11. Black Hours by Hamilton Leithauser
12. Give the People What They Want by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
13. Lost in the Dream by The War On Drugs
14. Warpaint by Warpaint
15. Heal by Strand of Oaks
16. Stay Gold by First Aid Kit
17. This is All Yours by ∆
18. Brill Bruisers by The New Pornographers
19. Only Run by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
20. Augustines by Augustines
21. El Pintor by Interpol
22. I Never Learn by Lykke Li
23. Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes by Thom Yorke
24. The Voyager by Jenny Lewis
25. Voices by Phantogram
26. Morning Phase by Beck
27. Hungry Ghosts by OK Go
28. Run the Jewels 2 by Run the Jewels
29. Cosmos by Yellow Ostrich
30. Teeth Dreams by The Hold Steady
31. With Light & With Love by Woods

2009-2013 Top 31s

#1 on the 2013 Musical Bacon Calendar

Muchacho by Phosphorescent

Some albums make you want to dance. Some make you want to laugh, or to cry. Or to blast as loudly as possible. Or wake up/fall asleep to. And then there are the albums that make you want to do all of those things. Muchacho is that kind of album. This isn’t an album — it’s a soundtrack for life.

Phosphorescent is Matthew Houck. Originally from Athens, Georgia, Houck has been making and playing music as Phosphorescent for over ten years now. Muchacho is his sixth record in that span. I didn’t discover him until his last album, 2010’s Here’s To Taking It Easy, which landed at #20 on that year’s Calendar. (Although looking back at that list now, I should have put it no lower than #11. Damn.)

You can define Houck’s music as country, acid rock, southern rock, or alt.country, but he’s somewhere in the middle of all of them. Keyboards, horns, violins and lap steel guitars play heavily throughout all of his music, and that’s no different for Muchacho. Houck’s voice is like a worn out tee, falling apart at the seams, the most comfortable thing you own. He has the perfect amount of laziness in his delivery, drug along reluctantly by the music laid out before him. Verging on a yodel but never quite getting there, he can sound like sad old dog or a wounded one, backed into a corner, depending on the story he is trying to tell.

And those stories, those yarns, are amazing. Typically about heartache and sorrow, the tales Houck tells can hit you in the deepest parts of your insides. Yet somehow the music isn’t depressing — it’s encouraging. His is a life lived hard but fruitful, a life best avoided but fantastic to vicariously live through.

As a fine capper for this year’s Calendar, you should now listen to Phosphorescent’s cover of Vampire Weekend’s “Ya Hey,” which Houck performed live on the air at KCSN (California State University, Northridge) on October 3. “Ya Hey” was the best song on Modern Vampires of the City, the #3 album of the year, and hearing it performed in Houck’s quiet drawl puts a dark, melancholy twist on the upbeat song. This could have very easily been a Houck original, it’s so different from the Vampire Weekend version.

2013 has been one hell of a year, a life-affirming, fucked up, killer of a year. For personal reasons, I can’t say I’ll miss it. But the music that’s come out of it, and the enjoyment it will bring me for many many years to come has made it much easier to bare. That music will undoubtedly remind me of the ups and downs of the year, and that will be just fine. As time goes on, the memories will smooth out, and the music will shine even brighter. Phosphorescent’s Muchacho will be with me the whole way.

Coda

When I write about each of these albums I tend to have them playing in the background. Tonight, as I went to flip this record over, in the middle of writing this article, I dropped it onto the top of the record stylus and put a big scratch down the middle of my favorite song, “The Quotidian Beasts.” Strangely fitting. It still plays, but with a terrible hiccup in every revolution.

I ordered a new copy immediately.

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2. Trouble Will Find Me by The National
3. Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend
4. The Bones Of What You Believe by Chvrches
5. The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You by Neko Case
6. In Focus? by Shugo Tokumaru
7. Psychic by Darkside
8. AMOK by Atoms for Peace
9. White Lighter by Typhoon
10. Hummingbird by Local Natives
11. If You Leave by Daughter
12. Pedestrian Verse by Frightened Rabbit
13. The Silver Gymnasium by Okkervil River
14. The Next Day by David Bowie
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’ve spoken of my love for Matthew Houck and his band Phosphorescent many times in the past. Solid, twangy, bluesy rock n’ roll. Nobody today is doing it better. And unless quite a few amazing albums come out in the next few months, Phosphorescent’s recent album Muchacho will end up near the top of this year’s Bacon Calendar.

They’re coming to Seattle in September, after having just been through town back in April of this year. I saw them then, and I just bought tickets to see them again. This is officially a must-see event. Don’t miss it.

#20 on the 2010 Musical Bacon Calendar

Here’s To Taking It Easy by Phosphorescent

Me, from a month and a half ago:

There are many bands out there performing facets of “classic rock” as it once was, but none of them are doing it nearly as well as Phosphorescent. Matthew Houck, the driving force behind the band, is one of those great lead singers — the ones dripping in charisma and can do no wrong, even as they proceed to get staggeringly drunk and stumble around the stage.

and

The beauty of Houck’s songs is that each one tells a story. There’s a lot of similarity to what Craig Finn of the Hold Steady does with his songs — short stories, with musical accompaniment. Along with the great story, the songs come with the requisite guitar solo and/or keyboard solo, and you’re left remembering songs you love from the 70s.

and finally

While a lot of the band’s sound reminds me of other current “alt.country” acts (Clem Snide, mostly), it’s the classic rock influences that resonate more. More so than the other classic-rock revival acts, Phosphorescent seems to have found the right mix of story, music, and drinking to pull it off correctly.

And I meant it. Whenever you’re driving in a city unknown to you, if you find yourself strangely drawn to the classic rock station for lack of anything else to listen to, then you’ll like Phosphorescent. The video above, for “It’s Hard To Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama),” the first song from Here’s To Taking It Easy, is unfortunately the only video that’s been put out for a song from this album. It’s unfortunate, because this isn’t nearly my favorite on the record, and I don’t think it showcases the album very well. It’s not a bad song, per se, but it’s just not indicative of what you’ll get on the rest of the LP.

But man, I do love me some Southern rock. The Allman Brothers, the Charlie Daniels Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd — this is the music I grew up on. And Matthew Houck’s songs take me back there. Won’t you go down memory lane with me?

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21. This is Happening by LCD Soundsystem
22. The Mistress by Yellow Ostrich
23. Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter
24. Been Listening by Johnny Flynn
25. The Wild Hunt by The Tallest Man on Earth
26. Lisbon by The Walkmen
27. Scratch My Back by Peter Gabriel
28. All Day by Girl Talk
29. A Storm – A Tree – My Mother’s Head by Bobby Bare Jr.
30. 03 to TEN by Knathan Ryan
31. In This Light On This Evening by Editors