#2 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — The National

January 30, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

First Two Pages of Frankenstein and Laugh Track by The National

The National are back near the top of the Top 31, surprising no one. Unbelievably, it’s been four years since they released their last album, the fantastic I Am Easy To Find, in 2019 (#6 that year). Granted, a lot of non-music stuff happened in those ensuing years (remember Covid?). Additionally, a lot of tangential work to The National came out during this period of “down time”: Taylor Swift’s Aaron Dessner-produced albums folklore and evermore came out in 2020 (#4 that year); lead singer Matt Berninger released his solo album, Serpentine Prison, that same year (#8); Aaron Dessner’s not-a-band-but-more-a-“project” collaboration with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver called Big Red Machine released How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? in 2021 (#2)¹ 2022 was the only year in that four-year span that lacked music to fill the massive void left by having no new album by the National.

The band has made up for that time by releasing two great new albums in 2023, First Two Page of Frankenstein on April 28, and Laugh Track on September 18. These two albums more than make up for “lost” time. The band prepared us fans for Frankenstein by putting out four singles between January 18 and the album’s release three months later. Laugh Track, on the other hand, was a complete surprise (aside from the inclusion of Bon Iver collaboration, “Weird Goodbyes,” which was originally released in August 2022).

The National have been long-time staples here on the Bacon Review. Including the albums mentioned above, they’ve always produced music that has been in my Top 10: Sleep Well Beast was #4 in 2017, Trouble Will Find Me was #2 in 2013, and High Violet inadvertently prevented all future albums from defaulting into the top spot by being #1 in 2010.

Where Easy To Find was a true departure for the band, seeing Berlinger relinquish the lead-singer role to a bevy of female guest stars on a number of songs, Frankenstein and Laugh Track are a return to form, quintessential National albums. There are some repeat guest stars here (the aforementioned Justin Vernon, and Sufjan Stevens), and some new great ones as well. Phoebe Bridgers sings beautiful harmonies on three songs across the two albums. Rosanne Cash shows up on “Crumble” from Laugh Track. And by far the biggest name, the Taylor Swift, joins Berlinger on the absolutely perfect duet called “The Alcott” on Frankenstein. After having spent a long time singing the Vernon/Swift duet “Exile” from her album folklore, I am glad my 6-year-old daughter and I have a Berninger/Swift duet to sink our teeth into for Car Karaoke²

Check out the video above, for “Your Mind is Not Your Friend,” one of the songs Phoebe Bridgers is on. The band have released a number of other nice music videos from the two albums, but this one, directed by Bridgers’ brother Jackson, really gets to the heart of what makes the band special. Over National-trademarked Sad Dad lyrics about trying to pull yourself out of depression, Matt Berninger and his brother Tom cavort around comically. Tom shows the depressive side of Matt’s lyrics literally, moping around and being sad, and Matt portrays the happy side of his brain, with flowers attached to his suit as he leads Tom around a park playground. Bridgers makes a brief appearance, appearing in the playground to take her character’s baby away from the grown men playing on the structures. That’s The National to a tee: cathartic depression. And that’s why I love them.

You can watch the rest of the videos they’ve released, too:

“Eucalyptus”
“Dreaming”
“Laugh Track” featuring Phoebe Bridgers
“Alphabet City”
“Deep End (Paul’s in Pieces)”
“Space Invader”

These are The National’s ninth and tenth albums in 24 years. It is now officially impossible to say any one of those albums is their best, as the answer will shift from day to day. No other band in my lifetime has been able to put out as much consistently great music as these five men have. Every new album they put out, I feel “whelp, this must be it, no way they can keep up this pace,” and every time I’m proven wrong. Who knows what’s next for the band? Whatever it is, it will be amazing.

^{1. Dessner produced Ed Sheeran’s 2023 album, _–_ (otherwise known as “Subtract”), which I’m listening to for the first time as I’m writing these words – too late to include in the Top 31, and too early to say if I would have even tried to include it. If it’s anything like his collaboration with Taylor Swift, I’ll have made a huge mistake not hearing it earlier. (Update – still listening, but struggling. In Swift’s Dessner-produced albums, there’s an easily recognizable Dessner influence. Despite him having touched every song on Sheeran’s album, Ed’s voice and lyrics pull things far enough away from anything related to The National that I lose the thread entirely.)↩}
^{2. If you want a real thrill as a parent, sing fantastic songs as a duet with them on repeat while driving around town. Rarely can I get through “The Alcott” with my daughter without choking up.↩}

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#6 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Sharon Van Etten

January 26, 2023 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

We've Been Going About This All Wrong by Sharon Van Etten

It’s been three years since we last heard from Sharon Van Etten on the Top 31. Her fifth album, a tour de force called Remind Me Tomorrow, was #5 in 2019. Five years prior to that, the fantastic Are We There was #4 in 2014. Go back two more years and you’ll find her third album, the Aaron Dessner-produced Tramp, at #13 in 2012. And now with her sixth album, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, is here at #6.

With four albums in the Top 31 over the last 12 years, she is the most decorated woman on the Top 31, a fantastic achievement by any measure, but a somewhat dubious and shameful honor for me personally. Van Etten’s first two albums, Because I Was in Love, and epic, both came out in 2009 and 2010, just as the Bacon Review was getting started, and my head was in a different space then. In my review of Tomorrow I wrote “In the beginning, the Top 31 was a lot more subconsciously, and therefore outwardly, male-centric.” What an understatement. Out of the 31 artists featured in the Top 31 in 2009, only five bands with female singers made the list. 2010 had three, if I stretch a little and qualify Belle & Sebastian. 2011: two. One year like that, it’s an anomaly. Two, it’s an interesting bit of problematic trivia. But three (and I stopped counting there; it’s likely even more years than that) and it’s a pandemic of aural blindness.

Last year, the number had gotten up 13. More respectable, but still not quite half. By the time this year’s Top 31 is done, I’ll have charted 19 albums that feature lead singers that are women. I didn’t enact some level of overt corrective measure, or create some artificial level or number that had to be filled by woman-led bands. I just charted what I truly loved this year. There has a been a definitive, quantifiable shift in my taste in music over the last 14 years. I don’t deserve notoriety for this achievement, but that won’t stop me from feeling a little bit better about my own personal balance.

At this point, the quality of Van Etten’s output is so great, it’ll be a surprise if she ever produces something that doesn’t fall into the Top 10. In the three-year void between Tomorrow and All Wrong, her 2nd album, 2010’s Epic, hit its 10th anniversary. To mark the occasion, Van Etten released a new deluxe version of the album (naturally called epic Ten) that included a track-for-track remake by various artists, including Bacon Review stalwarts Big Red Machine (#13 in 2018 and #2 in 2021), Idles (#16 in 2018 and #24 in 2020), Courtney Barnett (#5 in 2015, #8 in 2018, and #5 in 2021) and Fiona Apple (#1 in 2012 and #2 in 2020). When your career affords you the ability to gather Bon Iver, Courtney Barnett, and Fiona Apple to cover your own songs and release it as a bonus to your own reissued album, you know you’ve made an impact on people. My love of her music is well documented, but clearly there is no question as to her greatness.

In addition to my personal favorite from the album, “Mistakes,” shown in the video above, Van Etten has released a number of videos of songs from the album:

“Headspace”
“Used To It”
“Porta” (which also has a “making of”)

Get your hands on We've Been Going About This All Wrong. It is stellar, start to finish. Even if you’ve not connected with her music to date, give this one a full chance to sink in. You will not be disappointed.

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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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#2 on the 2021 Bacon Top 31 — Big Red Machine

January 30, 2022 by Royal Stuart

How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last? by Big Red Machine

Every year there’s the big obvious acts that continually appear on the Top 31. At the top of that list are both The National and Bon Iver, both of whom have had #1 albums (2010 and 2016) along with three additional, separate appearances on the Top 31 each. In fact, I haven’t done the math, but I’m confident in saying that Aaron Dessner (20% of The National) and Justin Vernon (99% of Bon Iver), combined, have been responsible for the largest percentage of all music I’ve listened to in the last 15 years.

The two of them have done many things together, arguably the most prominent being the work they’ve done together as Big Red Machine. Their first foray into a partnership was a collaborative song called “Big Red Machine” on the Dessner-produced Dark Was the Night compilation in 2009 (#10 that inaugural Top 31 year). According to wikipedia, Dessner reached out to Vernon via MySpace, and they collaborated on the song remotely, and didn’t meet in person until a follow-on performance for the collaboration was hosted later that year. They continued to work together while producing and creating with their respective bands. They formed a record label, 37d03d, which released the first full Big Red Machine album in 2018 (self-titled, #13 that year). In addition to Dessner and Vernon, that album also features Phoebe Bridgers, Dessner’s brother Bryce and Bryan Devendorf from The National, and multi-instrumentalist Richard Parry from Arcade Fire, among many others.

Then they turned their attention to Taylor Swift, or many she turned her attention to them. The two albums that came out of their collaboration had a big impact on my 2020 Top 31, coming in collectively at #4 last year. But Swift is not the only Dessner/Vernon produced artist I’ve enjoyed. From the very first Top 31 in 2009, with the aforementioned Dark Was the Night compilation and Bon Iver’s Blood Bank EP, there have been only two years (2014 and 2015) that one or both Vernon and Dessner did not appear on the Top 31 as performer or producer. Sharon van Etten, Local Natives, Frightened Rabbit, Taylor Swift, Kanye West — they’ve all benefited from the magic touch of Aaron Dessner and/or Justin Vernon in the last 15 years.

There were also a couple of Big Red Machine singles to come out in 2020 that haven’t appeared on any albums: “No Time For Love Like Now” with Michael Stipe, and a get-out-the-vote in Wisconsin cover of Aimee Mann’s “Wise Up” featuring 4 of out 5 members of The National and others.

And now we’re finally up to the present, with How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?, the supergroup’s 2nd full-length album under the Big Red Machine name. The album features a daunting list of guest appearances: Taylor Swift on two songs, James Krivchenia of Big Thief, Anaïs Mitchell on three songs, Ilsey (a prolific singer/songwriter who has written for and sung with a dizzying number of artists you’ve heard of), Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, Naeem (otherwise known as rapper Spank Rock), a song called “Hutch,” dedicated to the lost-too-soon lead singer of Frightened Rabbit, Scott Hutchison, featuring Sharon van Etten, Lisa Hannigan, and Shara Nova (lead singer of My Brightest Diamond), La Force (aka Ariel Engle of Broken Social Scene), Ben Howard, and This is the Kit (Kate Stables).

Whew.

There are many highlights to this album (as there should be for a #2 album of the year). The Robin Pecknold / Anaïs Mitchell sung “Phoenix,” shown in the lyric video above, is my personal favorite (mostly because it’s the favorite of 4-year-old, who demanded I play that song over and over again throughout the summer of 2021). But even the most stripped down songs, such as the two where Aaron Dessner finally takes the spotlight all by himself, playing guitar and singing on “The Ghost of Cincinnati” and “Magnolia” in what can only be described as his best Elliott Smith impersonation. The Taylor Swift collaboration “Renegade” is a poppy, Swiftian jaunt you’ll love – it could have easily been created for Swift’s 2020 albums folklore or evermore.

It’s hard not to look at How Long as the capper of one hell of a musical decade for Dessner and Vernon. There’s no way that either of them is done making music. But if you look at the arc of U2, R.E.M., or The Stones, now is about the time in their respective careers that the drive to create something new and different clashes with the desire to slow down, spend more time with family, and rely heavily on the income from previous hits rather than create something new and earth shattering. Selfishly, I hope they choose a different path and continue to give us everything they’ve got. We’ll find out soon enough – 2022 is a new year, and maybe there’ll be another Bon Iver or National album, or some new Dessner- or Vernon-produced project that will simply blow us all away. I can’t wait.

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3. Jubilee by Japanese Breakfast
4. A Way Forward by Nation of Language
5. Things Take Time, Take Time by Courtney Barnett
6. Little Oblivions by Julien Baker
7. Valentine by Snail Mail
8. sketchy. by tUnE-yArDs
9. A Very Lonely Solstice by Fleet Foxes
10. Hey What by Low
11. Local Valley by José González
12. Head of Roses by Flock of Dimes
13. The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows by Damon Albarn
14. Collapsed in Sunbeams by Arlo Parks
15. Loving In Stereo by Jungle
16. Flying Dream 1 by Elbow
17. Screen Violence by Chvrches
18. Blue Weekend by Wolf Alice
19. Mainly Gestalt Pornography by Pearly Gate Music
20. Peace Or Love by Kings of Convenience
21. These 13 by Jimbo Mathus & Andrew Bird
22. Mr. Corman: Season 1 by Nathan Johnson
23. Home Video by Lucy Dacus
24. I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico by Various Artists
25. Siamese Dream by Fruit Bats
26. NINE by Sault
27. Observatory by Aeon Station
28. The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania by Damien Jurado
29. A Beginner’s Mind by Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine
30. Where the End Begins by Knathan Ryan
31. Private Space by Durand Jones & The Indications

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#4 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — Taylor Swift

January 28, 2021 by Royal Stuart

folklore + evermore by Taylor Swift

If I were to allow myself a quick indulgence in forgetting the shit ton of god awful shit that happened, 2020 would go down as “The Biggest, Most Exciting Year For a Fan of The National That Doesn’t Feature a New Album by The National.” Not only was there the phenomenal debut solo release by lead singer Matt Berninger (Serpentine Prison, at #8), there were not one but two wholly-unexpected Aaron Dessner-produced and co-written jaw-droppingly good Taylor Swift albums, albums that could easily be called The National albums but with Swift slotted in for Berninger.

I would find it unbelievable if you told me you didn’t know Swift had released a couple albums in 2020. It’s impossible to be that in the dark that you somehow avoided hearing about the best selling album of 2020 (folklore set so many records upon its release on July 24, and it ended the year atop many best-of lists) and its sister album (evermore, released on December 11, may yet set records for sales in 2021, even if it will be out of contention for the critical year-end lists). But I can’t blame you if you discounted it outright, simply for being a couple of Taylor Swift albums. Well, I’m here to tell you that you’ve been thoroughly missing out. These albums are two of the most approachable, exciting, and universally-appealing records you’ll ever experience.

Swift was meant to team up with Dessner (guitarist, producer, and co-writer for The National, who have appeared on numerous Top 31s in the past, as well as one-half — with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver — of Big Red Machine, who appeared at #13 in 2018). Her personal, intimately written stories told in rhyming couplets and double entendres layer beautifully on Dessner’s musical tapestry. If you remove Swift’s words and voice from these songs, these are The National songs. It’s abundantly clear who drives the sounds of their albums. Then you add in Swift’s poetry and voice, and it’s almost too much for one person to handle.

folklore was a huge hit in our house from the day it was released. My family loved it as much as I did, including the youngest of us. Only two at the time of release, my toddler loves to proclaim “You know this song!” whenever she hears any song she’s heard more than once. We heard her say that a lot when we’d put it on. But when she got even more comfortable with it, demanding “Again!” at the end of the album’s best song (“Exile,” one of two duets Swift has with Bon Iver on the albums), and then started quietly singing the words from the song on top of Vernon and Swift… ouch my heart. Hearing my three-year old daughter singing “I never learned to read your mind, I couldn’t turn things around, ’cause you never gave a warning sign” will stick with me forever.

I’ve written so much about The National over the years, but I’ve not ever written about Taylor Swift, so let’s dive into how amazing she is for a minute. The woman has been producing music professionally since 2006, when she was only 17 years old. In the ensuing 14-year span, she’s put out 9 albums and a ton more EPs and single, all of which have sold over 227 million copies, good enough for #10 on the all-time list for most copies sold by any artist, ever. She’s won 10 Grammy Awards, an Emmy, and has set seven Guinness World Records, including “Biggest-Selling Album Worldwide For A Solo Artist” for her 2019 album Lover.

She is the perfect embodiment of female empowerment, and speaks out for herself, gun control, women’s rights, Black Lives Matter, LGBT rights and gender and racial equality, and the importance of voting. And she speaks out against white supremacy, systemic racism, and police brutality, all with an impeccable wardrobe and smile. On top of that, she’s picked up where Prince left off with his struggles against the leech-like record labels that suck every last dollar out of the artistic rights of their recording artists. She has publicly, continually, vehemently battled her record label for the ownership of her master recordings. Failing that, she’s decided to simply re-record all of her old recordings, no doubt making them better in the process and rendering the old masters all but worthless. “Commendable” doesn‘t even begin to define Taylor Swift.

All of that history makes the creation of folklore and evermore all that more astonishing. WIthout the pandemic-induced lockdowns, I don’t believe these records would have happened at all. Rather than being on a worldwide tour (that was supposed to begin in April), she set to recording new music. A few months of absolute chaos later, and she delivers the nicest care package imaginable.

These songs are without fault, and are infinitely listenable. The video above, which Swift directed, for her song “Cardigan” from the first album is not my favorite (see “Exile,” mentioned above), but even the worst song on the album is world’s better than 99% of what came out in 2020. The companion song from the second album, “Willow,” also has a Swift-directed video that starts exactly where the first video left off, and it’s not my favorite, either. For that, I’ll point you to the Justin Vernon co-produced song “Closure,” which doesn‘t feature Vernon’s succulent voice, but does feature key Bon Iver sounds and digitization, such as when he pushes Swift’s voice through his Messina – the vocal modifier that featured prominently on his 2016 Top 31 #1 album 22, A Million.

It’s clear I could keep gushing about these albums for much more — I’m finding myself striving to read all the background material out there (of which there is plenty, of course) to repurpose and regurgitate for you, dear reader. But I’ll stop here, and just tell you to listen, and then seek out the additional material yourself. There are deluxe versions and pared down versions and accompanying films and and and… The Taylor Swift machine is in high gear, per usual, but this time around I truly care, and I’m excited to see where she goes next. I hope there’s at least a few of you out there that I’ve convinced to listen to these records if you haven’t already. And for those of you that were as surprised as I was to find yourself in love with a couple of Taylor Swift albums in 2020, I’d love to hear from you about your experiences with the albums. Do reach out!

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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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#9 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Bon Iver

January 23, 2020 by Royal Stuart

i,i by Bon Iver

Justin Vernon, the driving force behind Bon Iver, has been a personal favorite of mine since his debut album For Emma, Forever Ago was released back in 2007. Every one of his releases has been on the Top 31 since the list’s inception (his Blood Bank EP was #17 in 2009, the self-titled Bon Iver was #6 in 2011, and his 2016 album, 22, A Million, was at the top of the list that year and is most definitely in my top 30-50 albums of all time, but I’ve never put that list to paper).

i,i, his fourth full-length album, is yet another beautiful feather in Vernon’s cap. With its release, Bon Iver has reached potential “greatest band” status according to my and my good friend Morgan’s self-imposed rule that governs such things: an artist must have four top-rated albums to qualify for such vaunted categorization. The fact that it’s his first four albums is a feat rarely achieved in music at any time, let alone in modern day. In trying to think of another band’s initial four albums that can be rated in the same way, my mind has to go all the way back to Led Zeppelin I-IV to find a similar stretch of greatness. Nearly unprecedented. As I’m writing this, I’m probably going to regret ranking i,i at #9. Bon Iver’s albums tend to surprise me in their longevity. I may have listened to other bands’ output more in 2019, but it’s probably i,i that I’ll be reaching for regularly in five years time.

The album features an impressive list of collaborators. The band itself has a larger roster than on previous albums: Justin Vernon on vocals, keyboards, guitar; Sean Carey on drums, keyboards, vocals; Matthew McCaughan on drums, vocals; Michael Lewis on bass, saxophone, keyboards, vocals; Andrew Fitzpatrick on guitar, keyboards, vocals; and Jenn Wasner on guitar, vocals. Additionally, James Blake, Aaron Dessner, and Bruce Hornsby all feature prominently across the album.

The songs themselves feel in keeping with 22, a million, but more deconstructed, as if the band picked up the blips, bloops, and blorks from the proverbial cutting room floor and reassembled them into a compelling whole. “Hey, Ma” is the highlight of the production, followed quickly by “U (Man Like)”. Taken out of context, these two songs feel like they could easily have come from a long-lost Bruce Hornsby album. I would have never in a million years drawn a line from Hornsby (he of “The Way It Is” with his band The Range) to Iver, if not for the fact that Hornsby is actually on this album. Knowing that fact, it’s impossible to not see his influence, in the best way possible.

I’m blown away by Vernon’s consistency and departures across his four albums. If you were a fan of 22, a million then you’ll love this new Bon Iver album. Check it out as soon as you can.

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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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#7 on the 2018 Bacon Top 31 — Cat Power

January 25, 2019 by Royal Stuart

Wanderer by Cat Power

Cat Power has been soothing the world with her sultry voice for over twenty years, since her debut Dear Sir in 1995. The trajectory of her creative output has steadily slowed since that first album, having three releases between 1995-1996, then two releases two years apart, two releases three years apart, one four years after that, and then finally Wanderer, her tenth album, six years later. Despite ten albums in 23 years, only two of those have been released since the Top 31 began in 2009, and I don’t think I’ve once mentioned her in that span. Her 2012 album, Sun, did not impress me. And yet, I’ve listened to her music pretty regularly since her critically-acclaimed 1998 breakthrough album, Moon Pix, recorded with a couple members of the Dirty Three to great effect. She did have a track on the oft-mentioned Dessner-brother produced Red Hot compilation Dark Was the Night, which was #10 in 2009, and that’s the closest I’ve ever come to discussing Cat Power.

This post has been a long-time coming, I suppose. Her real name is Chan Marshall, and apparently she was discovered opening for Liz Phair in 1993 by members of Sonic Youth and Two Dollar Guitar. That’s a good way to get started on the right foot in the music business. Since the above-mentioned Moon Pix she’s had a slew of amazing albums that all would have been on the Top 31 had it existed, including 2003’s You Are Free (which happens to feature Dave Grohl and Eddie Vedder) and The Greatest in 2006 (featuring phenomenal Mempis-based studio musicians for an entirely unique feel).

Marshall has a way of stripping down a song to its bare essence, drawing you ever closer to the speaker in an attempt to hear the parting of her lips and the dancing of her tongue on the back of her teeth. In addition to her own fantastic songs, she is the master of the cover, having released two full albums of covers (The Covers Record in 2000 and Jukebox in 2008). Her gift is to make these songs her own, barely recognizable from the original. My favorite track on Wanderer is actually a cover as well, of of Rihanna’s 2012 song “Stay”. You must hear this song — thankfully there’s a video for you to be able to do just that.

The video above, for the song “Woman,” features Lana Del Rey on harmonies and background vocals. It was the first single for this new record, and it does a good job of summing up Cat Power and her ups and downs over the years quite well:

I’m a woman of my word, now haven’t you heard?
My word’s the only thing I’ve ever needed
I’m a woman of my word, now you have heard
My word’s the only thing I truly need

Her word, above all else, is what has carried her through many different phases of her life, and will continue to do so. If you’ve not heard of Cat Power before now, you’ve been living under a rock. Wanderer is a perfect way to get into her, and that album will bleed into her previous records quite nicely. You’d best get started — you have a lot of ground to cover.

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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

#13 on the 2018 Bacon Top 31 — Big Red Machine

January 19, 2019 by Royal Stuart

2018 came and went without another #1 album by The National or Bon Iver, but it did produce something almost as good: the best “The National collaborates with another group” collaboration album yet. Introducing Big Red Machine, the self-titled debut album from Justin Vernon (aka Mr. Bon Iver) and Aaron Dessner (lead music writer for The National).

It’s almost as if Vernon and Dessner sat down and said “let’s make a Radiohead album.” Blending digital artifacts and hypnotic beats, subtle orchestration and keyboards, and an affected falsetto floating over the top, this is the best Radiohead album the band never made. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bon Iver and The National, and I love what Vernon and Dessner have done together. I’m pretty sure this album was made just for me. At times quiet and wispy, it draws you in like only the best novel can. Then, suddenly, it’s punctuated by staccato rhythms and nonsensical lyrics that cause you to sit up straight in your chair.

Dessner and Vernon’s collaboration started during the making of Dark Was The Night, the amazing Red Hot compilation album that the Dessner brothers assembled back in 2009 (#10 that year), when Dessner apparently cold-messaged Vernon on MySpace, having never met before. The two artists met for the first time at the Radio City Music Hall event surrounding the Dark Was The Night album (and featured in the video on the link of that #10 album in 2009). It took them nine years and collaborating in many ways on many things (including starting a project called PEOPLE, from which this album is by far the biggest output to date).

Yes, the project is named after the 1970’s Cincinnati Reds teams that won the World Series four times in seven years. The Dessner brothers grew up in Cincinnati, and were born right smack dab in the middle of that run (1976). If you even remotely like Bon Iver or the National, or Radiohead for that matter, then you’ll like this album. Perhaps you’ve not heard of it; thankfully your drought is now over.

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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

Subscribe to the 2018 Bacon Top 31 Apple Music playlist
2009-2017 Top 31s