#23 on the 2024 Bacon Top 31 — Naima Bock

January 09, 2025 by Royal Stuart in 2024, Top 31

Below a Massive Dark Land by Naima Bock

The artist at #23 is truly a product of the world. Naima Bock was born in England, to a Greek mother and Brazilian father. As a child she spent equal time in England and São Paulo. Living in two global metropolises, each an order of magnitude larger than New York City, has got to have a positive influence on your outlook on living. The myriad cultures of both locations, and of both parents, must have helped shape Bock’s view of music, because the amalgam of sound she produces has hints of many cultures and ideas, resulting in a sounds all her own.

Hit play on the video above, for the song “Gentle,” and you’ll hear a little bit of Aimee Mann’s guitar folkiness, a touch of Fiona Apple’s instrumentation, and a pinch of Dolores O’Riordan’s yodel. But there’s no mistaking Bock for any of those three, as she is quite unique. Below a Massive Dark Land, Bock’s second album since departing the London-based post-punk band Goat Girl, is lovingly assembled from acoustic guitar, horns, woodwinds, and drums. Generally quiet, with punctuations of loud, it sounds orchestral and intimate, as if Bock is leaning over your shoulder to whisper something in your ear while a small cacophony of brass happens in the loft space above you.

Listen and watch the video for “Kaley,” and you’ll hear something a bit more traditional indie-pop. “Feed My Release” is more acoustic guitar driven, quieter and subdued. “Lines,” released over a year ago as the first single from this album, eschews most of the horns for violin, electric guitar, and a Rhodes piano. There’s so much to love about these songs: the instrumentation, Bock’s vocals, and the band’s backing vocals. It all comes together magically, everything produced to a pristine, clear finish.

But don’t be thinking Bock is merely a studio-assembled band. Watch her KEXP Live Performance from this past September, where she is backed by a full six-person band in the KEXP live room, faithfully reproducing four of the album’s songs.

I haven’t yet heard Bock’s debut album Giant Palm (both albums are out on SubPop Records), but from what I’ve read, the two albums are very similar – that is to say, they’re both great. I can’t wait to dive into that earlier record, and I also can’t wait for you to experience either one. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

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#25 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Weyes Blood

January 07, 2023 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood

Natalie Mering has been writing and performing under the nom de plume Weyes Blood since 2011. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow is her fifth album in that span, but only the first one to make it onto the Top 31. Based on the way this album has landed squarely in my regular rotation, the absence of her previous four albums is 100% my fault.

Mering grew up in a deeply religious Pentecostal Christian family of the “born again” variety. (This is now the 2nd time religion has come up as a big part of the upbringing of the featured artist. I wonder how many more times we’ll see it.) Born in Santa Monica, her family moved around a few times before landing in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She left the nest and headed west to Portland for college and started playing in bands regularly. In 2011 she released her debut album as Weyes Blood, The Outside Room. She released a couple more albums in 2014 and 2016 and started to garner some critical acclaim. But it wasn’t until her fourth, 2019’s Titanic Rising, that that acclaim started to catch up to her.

She defines And In The Darkness as part two of a trilogy that began on Titanic. As mentioned in Pitchfork, part one “was a foretelling of catastrophe, and its follow-up is a dispatch from the center of it.” I’ve not yet been able to hear Titanic, but I aim to soon.

Mering’s voice hits in the same register as Aimee Mann, and a lot of the production throughout the album could be mistaken for Mann’s work — a high compliment in my book. Heavy orchestration and strong lyrical storytelling are found throughout. She’s lands at the intersection between Mann and Father John Misty (I would fear the power of that love child).

Her videos have a FJM-like tongue-in-cheek quality to them as well. In addition to “Grapevine” above, which features surreal and dark animated figures behind the performing Mering, she’s released another dark, surreal, and animated video for “It’s not me, it’s everybody”. I’m not sure if the style of these videos is indicative of all Weyes Blood videos, but they both feature blood so I’m inclined to think that’s an overarching theme.

Give this album its due – it sinks in deep and grabs your guts in a way that only a few albums can.

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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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#9 on the 2017 Bacon Top 31

January 22, 2018 by Royal Stuart

Mental Illness by Aimee Mann

I’ve been enjoying Aimee Mann’s work for a long time (ever since she wrote some original songs for one of my favorite films ever, P. T. Anderson’s Magnolia, way back in 1999¹), but her albums of the last decade haven’t hooked me. That is, until her ninth album, Mental Illness, came out this past March.

Mann’s music is always easy to listen to in the background, but as soon as you move it to the foreground you start to notice the dark undertones of her lyrics. It’s this balance of folky darkness that draws you in, and that effect is especially evident on Mental Illness (as if the title wasn’t enough of a hint).

Another great thing about Aimee Mann is that she seemingly knows everybody. She’s married to Michael Penn. She’s in a side-project band with Ted Leo called The Both. And for this album she teamed up with Jonathan Coulton, who co-wrote “Patient Zero,” “Good For Me,” and “Rollercoasters” and John Roderick, who co-wrote “Poor Judge.” That list of names might as well be the start of my nonexistent Top 10 Male Songwriters of the 2000s list.

Mental Illness is a great album, and Aimee Mann is a great singer/songwriter. The orchestration throughout this album puts it over the top. I can’t recommend it enough — go get it now!

^{1. Magnolia climaxes with the all-star cast halting in their various storylines and lip syncing Mann’s song “Wise Up,” which is such an odd experience but a perfect release for the pressure that builds up over the length of the movie. Check out this amazing music video, for another song from the movie, called “Save Me.” The video was filmed by director P. T. Anderson on the movie sets at the end of each day of shooting, with the actors in the movie sitting motionless in their various scenes. Aimee Mann had Tom Cruise (et al) in her music video; I’m guessing that’s something that nobody else can claim.↩}

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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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September 20, 2012 by Royal Stuart

I really like the place Jon Hamm has taken in pop culture, willing to make himself look like a fool day in and day out. Here he is in Aimee Mann’s awesome new video for her song “Labrador” from her new album Charmer.

The video is a complete scene-for-scene remake of ’Til Tuesday’s hit “Voices Carry,” with some comic twists. As you probably already know, Aimee got her start as the lead singer in ’Til Tuesday, and that video came out in 1985. This new version of the video has Aimee reprising her role, with Jon Hamm directing, and Superchunk/Mountain Goats’ Jon Wurster as her love interest. Also starring Ted Leo, Michael Hausman, Daniel Ralston and Leah Giblin.

August 16, 2012 by Royal Stuart

Here’s Academy-award winner Laura Linney posing as Aimee Mann in the latter’s title song from her forthcoming eighth studio album Charmer.

And John Hodgman makes a cameo.