#16 on the 2024 Bacon Top 31 — IDLES

January 16, 2025 by Royal Stuart in Top 31, 2024

TANGK by IDLES

My love and acceptance of IDLES as a force to be reckoned with has been a long time coming. I got swept up in the KEXP-driven mania around the band back in 2018, and ranked their sophomore album that year, Joy as an Act of Resistance, at #16. I hold by that ranking, that’s a great album and the accolades are well-deserved. In 2020, the band’s third album, Ultra Mono, slipped a little, down to #24. Their fourth album, Crawler, from 2021, failed to stay on my radar; I was aware of its existence, but I had no place for it in my listening habits of those middle Covid years. Enter TANGK, the band’s fifth album, here at #16, and the band has come roaring back with a vengeance.

A few factors have led to this shift of opinion, with IDLES being able to ascend to somewhere near the top of my proverbial “favorites” list: TANGK is their best album yet, and it was produced by Nigel Godrich; the band has released some phenomenal videos in support of the album; and I got to see the band live at the Paramount this past May.

TANGK is still a loud, in your face album that will put off a lot of people. But when compared to IDLES’ œuvre, TANGK is downright tame, much more approachable than past works. I have to believe that Nigel Godrich, who coproduced the album with Kenny Beats and Mark Bowen (IDLES’ lead guitarist), had something to do with this album appealing to my ears more than any of their past albums. Godrich is responsible for the production of all the Radiohead albums that I love , as well as the Beck albums Mutations and Sea Change, all of which would have qualified as “best album of the year” had I been documenting my Top 31 in the late 90s / early 00’s¹.

The band is visually minded in addition to producing great, anger-inducing music. Check out the video above, for the song “Grace,” and watch closely. Rather than spoil it for you, I’ll pause here so you can watch the first 30 seconds of the video or so, then leave it playing while you come back here to finish reading. No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you: that is Chris Martin from 25 years ago, as seen in the original video footage for Coldplay’s 2000 song “Yellow.” But this time, he’s singing the words to IDLES’ “Grace,” through the magic of Deepfake AI. The video is a result of a dream Talbot had, who then took the concept to Martin who was more than happy to lend the video to the band, so much so that he even helped them train the AI model that built the new mouth movements.

Other videos from the album include “Gift Horse,” which is a great song with a disjointed, nonsensical video. “POP POP POP,” a song that amazingly rhymes “strong like bull” with “vulnerable,” has a video that concentrates on Talbot’s magnetic, mustachioed face. The band recently released an alternate version of this song with an electric new verse by Danny Brown to open the song. And finally, “Dancer,” which was the lead single for the album and has a video that sees the band… dancing? One of the many things I love about this band is their ability to not take themselves too seriously.

IDLES’ live performances are not to be missed. Their show back in May was intense and emotional. It was also the only time I’ve shed a tear at a live show in recent memory. I was sitting in the front row of the balcony, looking down on the band on the stage and the very active mosh pit in the middle of the floor. At one point the band’s two guitarists, Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan, came down off the stage and slowly worked their way through the crowd while the roadies did their best from the stage to keep their guitar cables from becoming disconnected. When the guitarists got to the middle of the pit, they began playing back to back while encouraging the crowd to rotate around them, like a human tornado. The sea of people circling around the two musicians was a site to behold. During this time in the show, I noticed an older man (ie: my age) carrying a smaller child in his arms and hanging around the outside of the maelstrom but not completely outside of it. This clearly aging rocker was introducing his son to the wonders of the pit in as safe a way as one can – “that’s one lucky kid,” I thought.

After the guitarists returned to the stage, and the tornado calmed down to a more normal turmoil, I couldn’t stop watching this dad with his child from above. They were having a great time, the dad never putting the child down, staying near the edges of the moshing. Between songs at one point, Joe Talbot, the charismatic, deep-throated lead singer, noticed the pair, too. “I’ve got bad eye sight, so my eyes may have been deceiving me, but I swear I saw a child out there in the pit. Is there a child out there?” The crowd pointed them out, and Joe proceeded to have a conversation with the dad and child from the stage, while 3,000+ people listened on. Through this conversation, I learned that it was a boy, that he was 8 years old, and this was his first mosh pit experience. “Well, this is a good most pit to be in. IDLES fans take care of each other.” Joe asked him a couple more questions, with the child and the dad yelling their answers back as loudly as they could to be heard on the stage. At the end of their conversation, Talbot got serious for a minute. “If there’s one thing I want to make sure you take away with you from this show, one thing that will live on with you long after you leave here, it’s this: if you ever feel down, or withdrawn, or sad – tell someone. It’s important for you to share those feelings, because that’s how you will find out you are not alone. Seriously, that is so important: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.” And that’s how I got choked up, my eyes welling up at a fucking IDLES show of all things. It chokes me up writing about it now. What a positive message to impart on this impressionable kid.

“You are not alone” is the tag line from my favorite radio station, KEXP, and a constant message delivered from the morning DJ and the station’s loudest cheerleader, John Richards. He and Talbot have been very close since Joy made an impression in 2018, and they are kindred spirits. “You are not alone” is such an important statement, very much needed in these current times of unrest. As our 47th president is sworn into office next week, “you are not alone” is a sentiment I carry with me daily, and will lean on a lot in the coming years. That, and also the fact that IDLES is a band of great people who make great music, and KEXP is a great radio stations that plays that great music for us all to hear. It makes me feel not alone just thinking about it, and I hope you feel it, too. You are not alone.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

^{1. If my listening habits in the ensuing years are any indication, it is not hyperbolic to say that Radiohead’s 1995 (The Bends), 1997 (OK Computer), 2000 (Kid A), 2001 (Amnesiac), 2003 (Hail to the Thief), and 2007 (In Rainbows), albums, and Beck’s 1998 (Mutations) and 2002 (Sea Change) albums – all produced by Nigel Godrich – would have been #1 in their respective years if I had written up a Top 31 in those years. Only the production credits of George Martin, aka “the fifth Beatle,” has had more influence on my musical tastes than Nigel Godrich.↩}

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#22 on the 2024 Bacon Top 31 — The Smile

January 10, 2025 by Royal Stuart in Top 31, 2024

Wall of Eyes and Cutouts by The Smile

Sometimes I’ll get to the end of the year, export the list of albums I downloaded to my library in Apple Music over the past 12 months, and be surprised to learn upon review that such-and-such album only came out this year (as opposed to earlier). Such is the case with Wall of Eyes, the first of a pair of albums from Radiohead side-project The Smile that were released in 2024. Wall of Eyes came out nearly a year ago, on January 26, and its sister album, Cutouts, on October 4.

The Smile – the trio of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead, and Tom Skinner on drums – also appeared on the Top 31 with their 2022 debut album, A Light for Attracting Attention, which landed at #15 that year. While Nigel Godrich produced the debut, both of the 2024 albums were produced by Sam Petts-Davies, who previously worked with Yorke on his soundtrack for the movie Suspiria that came out in 2018 (#22 that year) as well as his Confidenza soundtrack, which came out in April this year and will not be appearing on the Top 31 because, frankly, I had forgotten it existed until right now (whoops!). These two The Smile records mark the first time we’re hearing output from the duo of Yorke and Greenwood that was not produced by Godrich since Radiohead’s debut, Pablo Honey, (32 years ago!).

Petts-Davies’ production allows Greenwood, Yorke, and Skinner the freedom to move about, opening the door for a more raw, immediate, and guttural execution than anything you’ll hear on a Radiohead album. Between the two 2024 albums, the latter Cutouts feels more amped up, featuring a number of guitar-driven songs that have Greenwood playing like a kid set loose in a candy store. Currently, my favorite song across both albums comes from this frenzy: “Zero Sum,” which has an appropriately crunchy, digital visualizer created by artist Weirdcore (who created visualizer videos for the entire Cutouts album).

When Wall of Eyes came out, it was ushered into the world with two PT Anderson-directed videos, for “Friend of a Friend” (featured above) and title track “Wall of Eyes.” Outside of those two “proper” videos, the rest of Wall has visualizer videos created by animator Sabrina Nichols and longtime Radiohead visual collaborator Stanley Donwood. I’ve come to realize I’m a much bigger fan of live-action short-film videos as opposed to visualizer videos, which have a place more as the backdrop to a live band than they do as a vehicle to carry a song.

These albums don’t have the overhead that a Radiohead album would, and that rough-around-the-edges feel contributes to a more ephemeral vehicle for Yorke’s always-dreamy vocals. He will always sound like himself, but without the Godrich production and the rest of Radiohead to back him up, I’m guessing I won’t often reach for these two albums down the road. Why would I, when I can just as easily put on any one of Radiohead’s albums and be infinitely more pleased? Despite all that, please don’t be deterred in listening to these alternate-universe Radiohead songs. Even a second-rate effort by Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood is better than a first-rate effort from the other 99% of the music world. It is literally impossible for them to produce anything less. Listen now and enjoy.

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#30 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Peter Gabriel

January 02, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

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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Los Angeles by Jacknife Lee, Budgie & Lol Tolhurst

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#15 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — The Smile

January 17, 2023 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile

The album at #15 this year presents an interesting conundrum. “If it walks like a Radiohead album, and talks like a Radiohead album, then it most certainly has to be a Radiohead album.” (Radiohead: #26 and #7 in 2011, #3 in 2016) But no, the fantastic A Light for Attracting Attention is not a new Radiohead album. It’s the debut album of a project called The Smile, featuring Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood (the two principal songwriters from Radiohead), along with drummer Tom Skinner. No Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, or Philip Selway anywhere to be seen on this album. But longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich is here, making every sound hum with that unique Radiohead tone.

There’s not much I can say about the songs. You know what Radiohead songs sound like, and you know whether you like them or not. There is no new ground being broken here. Fantastic, syncopated rhythms from Skinner, Jonny’s excellent finger picking, and Thom’s haunting falsetto make you forget the outside world for 13 songs stretched across 53 minutes and 18 seconds.

Perhaps you knew that Thom and Jonny had a side project. They’ve done a ton of promotion around the album, starting with a surprise 32-minute performance video created a year into Covid, in May 2021 and streamed as part of the Glastonbury Festival. They performed eight entirely new songs, and nobody was sure quite what was going on. Then, early in 2022 they performed in front of audiences at three separate shows in London, which were also live-streamed worldwide. The album then finally came out on May 13th, 2022 and the trio set off on an international tour that just concluded on December 22.

Along the way, the band stopped in at a couple of my favorite radio programs to record some in-studio sessions. First came the band’s Tiny Desk Concert on NPR’s All Songs Considered, hosted by Bob Boilen. The band only played three songs there (with a fourth that was recorded but ultimately scrapped thanks to band veto), all stripped-down and quiet. Shortly after that came the KEXP live session, an intimate performance by the band the day before playing their sold-out show in Seattle. They played five songs in that set, demonstrating their live chops in a small, slightly chaotic room. The band have released three videos as well, including Pana-vision above (starring the one and only Cillian Murphy), “Thin Thing,” and “Free in the Knowledge”.

That’s about all I can say. A Light for Attracting Attention by ~~Radiohead~~ The Smile is wonderful. Pick it up if you’re only hearing about it for the first time.

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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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Thom Yorke feat. Radiohead - Creep (Very 2021 Rmx)

July 15, 2021 by Royal Stuart

Unexpected and WOW.

It really kicks in at 3:06.

#14 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Thom Yorke

January 18, 2020 by Royal Stuart

Anima by Thom Yorke

Let’s start this review by stating the obvious: Radiohead is my #1 favorite band of all time. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying their albums since 1995’s The Bends, and if you’re counting (I always am), that’s 25 years of bias. So please take this “review” with a grain of salt.

Whew, ok, glad I got that off my chest. Now on to the absolutely stellar album from Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke. Anima is Yorke’s fourth solo album, including his 2018 soundtrack to the movie “Suspiria” (#22 that year). In addition to that, Yorke (solo and with his bands Radiohead and Atom for Peace) has appeared on the Top 31 many many many many many times. His solo albums don’t tend to veer too far off the path of what Radiohead does as a band, but I think it’s safe to say that Yorke’s bandmates add warmth to his otherwise cold, distant, disconnected electronic music.

Cold, disconnected music is not a bad thing (obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t love Yorke and Radiohead so much), and Yorke knows how to exploit those dark emotions in ways unlike anyone else out there. Whereas greats like Bowie and Prince would take cues from shifts in the musical landscape and perfect it, Yorke has found his niche and stays firmly planted there, never straying. He is a genre unto himself, wholly non-categorizable.

He is also a master of the visual form. For this release, he worked with one of my favorite directors, Paul Thomas Anderson, to create a 15 minute short film, or long form music video, if you will. The video is only viewable on Netflix, but I do highly recommend watching it if you have a subscription and 15 minutes to spare. Additionally, he released the above animated video, for the song “Last I Heard (…He Was Circling The Drain).” I devoured every second of it when it came out.

By now you know who Thom Yorke and Radiohead are, and you know if you like him. This album is not going to change your opinion of him in the slightest. Chances are, if you’re a fan, then you’ve already heard it. In fact, if you’re surprised to hear that Yorke released an album in 2019, I’d love to hear how you remained in the dark for so long!

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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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2009-2018 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

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2009-2017 Top 31s

#22 on the 2018 Bacon Top 31 — Thom Yorke

January 10, 2019 by Royal Stuart

Suspiria (Music for the Luca Guadagnino Film) by Thom Yorke

Thom Yorke dips his toe into the score/soundtrack arena that Radiohead bandmate Jonny Greenwood has been occupying lately, with the soundtrack to a remake of the 1977 horror film Suspiria.

I do a lot of skipping around on this one, as it’s difficult to put a horror-film soundtrack on in the background of anything without giving whatever it is you’re doing an air of “oh shit I’m going to die soon aren’t I?” The songs that Yorke sings on, such as the one shown above, are Yorke at his best. These could easily be Radiohead songs.

Thom recorded a live session of the four main songs from the soundtrack at Electric Lady Studios in NYC. Watching him perform them live: gorgeous.

If you haven’t listened to this yet, do so. But chances are you’ve already heard it and either embraced it or tossed it aside, and both choices are correct.

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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

#1 on the 2016 Bacon Top 31

January 12, 2017 by Royal Stuart

22, A Million by Bon Iver

Yep, Bon Iver. Good ol’ Justin Vernon finds himself atop the 2016 Bacon Top 31, with his stellar, jaw dropping third LP 22, A Million. This album is Bon Iver’s Kid A. I remember that feeling, back in 2000 — after having had that magical moment where Radiohead’s OK Computer just *clicked* a couple years prior, and I began defining the musical world as “Radiohead above all else” — and played Kid A for the first time and thought “What the FUCK is this?” Then I listened to it again. And again. And probably didn’t stop for the rest of the year. That’s exactly how it went for this new Bon Iver album.

This is an amazing record. It’s over-the-top use of autotune (as I said when reviewing Blonde at #4, this is The Year of the Autotune) is arresting until you’ve heard the album for the fourth of fifth time and you realize it’s magical.

Vernon has a spot-on falsetto — it’s his signature voice — and of course it’s featured prominently here, run through many layers of digital filters and fuzz, to create something wholly unique. I encourage you to watch this live performance from December (thank you NPR!), to watch Vernon make these sounds on the fly. It’s a marvel to watch, and it blows me away he’s able to accomplish it all live, on stage.

Bon Iver has been on the Top 31 only twice, for his 2nd LP, Bon Iver, Bon Iver, at #6 back in 2011, and his Blood Bank EP at #17 back in the very first Top 31, in 2009. His first album, For Emma, Forever Ago, from 2008, would definitely have been on the countdown. It’s a masterpiece of a different sort. But for me, 22, A Million is his best work to date. I’m going to listen to this album for many many many years to come.

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2. Visions of Us On the Land by Damien Jurado
3. A Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead
4. Blonde by Frank Ocean
5. Are You Serious by Andrew Bird
6. Lemonade by Beyoncé
7. Teens of Denial by Car Seat Headrest
8. Goodness by The Hotelier
9. The Mountain Will Fall by DJ Shadow
10. Junun by Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood & The Rajasthan Express
11. The Hope Six Demolition Project by PJ Harvey
12. Amen & Goodbye by Yeasayer
13. Sea of Noise by St. Paul & The Broken Bones
14. You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen
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

#3 on the 2016 Bacon Top 31

January 10, 2017 by Royal Stuart

A Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead

Radiohead have only been on the Top 31 twice, both times in 2011, which is when The King of Limbs and its remix album, TKOL RMX 1234567, their previous albums to A Moon Shaped Pool, came out. But the band’s members have been on the Top 31 a few more times:

A Moon Shaped Pool is a great album, and it’s a great Radiohead album. You can see other videos from the album here and here. I don’t really need to say anything else about it.

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4. Blonde by Frank Ocean
5. Are You Serious by Andrew Bird
6. Lemonade by Beyoncé
7. Teens of Denial by Car Seat Headrest
8. Goodness by The Hotelier
9. The Mountain Will Fall by DJ Shadow
10. Junun by Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood & The Rajasthan Express
11. The Hope Six Demolition Project by PJ Harvey
12. Amen & Goodbye by Yeasayer
13. Sea of Noise by St. Paul & The Broken Bones
14. You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen
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

#10 on the 2016 Bacon Top 31

December 22, 2016 by Royal Stuart

Junun by Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood & The Rajasthan Express

And here we are at the Top 10, starting with a little-known album that came out at the end of 2015: Junun. This album, a collaboration between Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, and the Indian ensemble The Rajasthan Express, is crazy good. Produced by Greenwood and recorded, mixed and engineered by longtime Radiohead producer and collaborator Nigel Godrich, these songs have an other-worldly sound that transports my severely under-traveled ears to many unexpected places.

Like George Harrison’s commitment to the Maharishi in 1968, Greenwood and Godrich have immersed themselves of the sounds of India and the Middle East, producing something that is a blend of culture and sounds unlike any other. Certain songs on the album have a distinct Greenwood / Radiohead feel to them, specifically “Allah Elohim,” (shown above) which features a typical Greenwood bassline propelling the song forward, some quiet guitar sounds and his trademark playing of the ondes martenot, an instrument that is akin to the theramin and appears on many Radiohead albums. “Allah Elohim” may very well be my favorite song of 2016. It’s… it’s just perfect.

Across the album, the horns, percussion, backup vocals and harmonies brought into the mix by The Rajasthan Express give power to these songs. This is a large group of skilled musicians, each stretching in their craft and producing something beautifully layered and unique. It will get you moving, and send you on a trip unlike any other. I can’t recommend it enough.

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11. The Hope Six Demolition Project by PJ Harvey
12. Amen & Goodbye by Yeasayer
13. Sea of Noise by St. Paul & The Broken Bones
14. You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen
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

Radiohead — Daydreaming

May 06, 2016 by Royal Stuart

Another day, another new Radiohead video. This, along with the song/video they released on Wednesday, will be on the band’s unnamed 2016 album, to be released digitally at 11am Pacific Daylight Time this Sunday, May 8.

The above video was directed by famed director P. T. Anderson, who has created many fantastic movies over the years, including Boogie Nights and Magnolia. Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood has a long working history with Anderson, having written the soundtracks to many of his films, including the oscar-nominated There Will Be Blood as well as his most recent movie, Inherent Vice. Additionally, Anderson directed the documentary about Greenwood’s fantastic side project Junun last year.

I’m totally biased here, but I absolutely love these two new Radiohead songs, and I am so very excited to hear the rest of the album.

Radiohead — Burn The Witch

May 03, 2016 by Royal Stuart

Two words: NEW RADIOHEAD.

#7 on the 2014 Bacon Top 31

December 25, 2014 by Royal Stuart

Not Art by Big Scary

Merry Christmas, everybody! Coming in at #7 is Australian band Big Scary, whose album Not Art, their second, actually came out last year but didn’t make it stateside until earlier this year. This album is hard for me to define; each song sounds derivative of another band.

The above video, for the song “Luck Now,” reminds me of Jeff Buckley, the way Iansek uses his falsetto to great effect. The song “Twin Rivers” (as seen here) has a dissonant-chord chorus and pervasive piano that reminds me of Grizzly Bear. And “Invest,” which can be seen here, has a drum break that makes me think of U.N.K.L.E. (back when DJ Shadow was with the band).

In addition to the above, you can hear Radiohead, Velvet Underground, and many many other references throughout the album, which, on the surface might appear to be a damning quality for the album to evoke. But it’s not, at all. This album is an absolute joy to listen to. It’s solid, through and through.

The band is a duo, Tom Iansek and Joanna Syme, and they started performing as Big Scary back in 2006. In addition to their two albums, they’ve released a number of EPs. Not Art is the first album of theirs to hit my radar, and I’m so glad it did. I found myself continually drawn back to it over the length of the year. You should give it a listen, too. It will stick with you.

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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

#8 on the 2013 Musical Bacon Calendar

December 24, 2013 by Royal Stuart

AMOK by Atoms for Peace

Thom Yorke slays me. Throw in master producer Nigel Godrich, amazing session drummer Joey Waronker, percussionist Mauro Refosco, and Flea, and, well, you’ve got the makings of the #8 album of the year. But you’ve already heard and formed your opinions about this album, and nothing I say or do here will sway that. You either like Atoms for Peace or not.

The video above is not the best video from the album (see either “Ingenue” or “Before Your Very Eyes” for that honor), but “Default,” the song the video is for, is by far the best song on the album.

I had the enormous pleasure of seeing Atoms for Peace play the Treasure Island Music Festival back in October. But that pleasure was dwarfed by the sheer joy of getting my hands on one of the 100 “Judge, Jury and Executioner” 12" vinyl singles in a hand-printed sleeve that was sold only at Sonic Boom Records back in March (as chosen by Thom himself). It’s been an Atoms for Peace kind of year.

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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

November 15, 2013 by Royal Stuart

This new video from Thom Yorke’s side project Atoms for Peace came out a few weeks ago, and I missed posting about it until now. I love the combination of CGI, motion-capture and stop-motion animation in this video. But if you know anything about me, it’s hard for me to say a disparaging word about anything Mr. Yorke does.

I’m not proud.

You can also watch a brief video about the making of the video above, if you’re into that kinda thing.

January 07, 2013 by Royal Stuart

Another song from the forthcoming Atoms For Peace record Amok: “Judge Jury and Executioner.”

Pretty damn excited for this one.

January 06, 2013 by Royal Stuart

Thom Yorke’s side project Atoms For Peace has launched a pretty amazing side-scrolling website to announce the launch of their upcoming album Amok, coming February 25. The song above, “Default,” is pretty good and falls right in with Yorke’s solo work as well as some Radiohead stuff, too.

The band has a pretty stellar lineup (as spelled out here):

Thom Yorke: Vocals Keyboards Programming and Guitars
Nigel Godrich: Production & Programming
Joey Waronker: Drums
Mauro Refosco: Percussion
Flea: Bass

And apparently they’re going to tour very soon. Strangely, this post just showed up in my RSS feed, but it’s dated December 4. Not sure if I’m the only one receiving it late, or if it was back-dated and truly posted today for some reason. Strangeness. Loving the music, though.

December 15, 2012 by Royal Stuart

#17 on the 2012 Musical Bacon Calendar

The Master: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Jonny Greenwood

Given yesterday’s news, I’m finding it hard to separate my throwaway thoughts about music from: my mounting hatred for the shooter, the gun-owners among us and the ineffectual government I happily voted into office; my deep sympathy for the victims, their families; and my growing sense of dread and helplessness because of the impossibility of keeping my son — all children — everybody — 100% “safe.”

I tried to ignore it, to move on without acknowledgment, resulting in a handful of pithy and, now, upon reflection, guilt-inducing tweets, as well as a few posts about music that seem oh so unimportant now. So forgive me if this post tries to draw a line — no matter how tenuous — between what I’m currently listening to and to what is happening in the world all around us.

I cope through music.

Here, where I’m finally giving myself a chance to reflect, I determined the band I was originally going to write about for #17 wasn’t right for my state of mind. So that album now moves up the charts so something more in tune can move down to this more appropriate spot.

The soundtrack to P.T. Anderson’s disturbingly wonderful The Master, created and curated by Radiohead’s lead instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood, is strangely perfect for right now. For those of you who have not seen The Master, I recommend it, especially if you can see it right now, in our current collective malaise.

It’s not an especially exciting movie, but the lead characters in the movie are so off kilter, suffering from some mental imbalance, crippling dependencies or delusions of grandeur, that the movie proves especially poignant for right now. The people are brilliantly portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams, and these are career defining performances from actors who have had numerous such moments already in their lifetimes.

Another key character in the movie is Greenwood’s equally disturbing soundtrack, eerily perfect for my current mindset. It has an amazing ability to engender and/or feed my sense of melancholy that very few albums could achieve at this very moment. Each song, with only a couple of exceptions, is hard to tie to the exact scene within which it was played in the movie. You remember the tune, but you can’t quite put your finger on what visuals were playing under it when you first heard it.

The soundtrack is also entirely listenable on its own, provided you share in my desire to prolong the happy-sad feelings. This is a mark rarely achieved by a soundtrack, and while Greenwood wrote the entire score, its longevity will inevitably be attributed in part to the unsettling, memorable characters created by Anderson and acted by Hoffman, Phoenix and Adams.

Of course, this soundtrack and now the bridge I’ve drawn between it and the horrific events that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, don’t solve anything. It doesn’t do anything to make me feel I’m keeping my family safer, nor does it help me understand why my elected officials pretend to have their hands tied, powerless against the conversely powerful gun lobby. But it helps a little.

And there are a couple of other, more concrete ways to ease the pain, to help you feel like you can affect change, if ever so slightly:

Donate to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Tell your state representatives to melt the guns. Be sure to follow these brief guidelines, posted on the Brady Campaign’s website:

Tips for contacting elected representatives:

Identify yourself as a constituent: Politicians are most interested in the opinions of people who can vote for them. Identify yourself as a constituent of the legislator you are contacting.

One issue at a time: Whether writing, visiting or calling your legislators, focus on a single topic - like closing the gun show loophole. You’ll be more effective and receive a faster response.

Be specific: Ask the legislator to take specific action, like sponsoring or voting for a piece of legislation. Ask for a written response that gives your legislator’s position on the legislation, and your request.

Be brief: Make your points quickly and concisely to have the greatest impact.

Be polite: Be respectful when contacting your legislators. It is important to contact legislators even if you know they will disagree with your position. They need to hear from you, but always be respectful. Those who agree with you need to hear from you too.

And lastly, go see The Master and give the soundtrack a listen. Chances are it probably won’t give you the same small sense of satisfaction it gives me, but there’s no harm in trying.

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18. There’s No Leaving Now by The Tallest Man On Earth
19. Transcendental Youth by The Mountain Goats
20. A Church That Fits Our Needs by Lost In The Trees
21. Hospitality by Hospitality
22. Free Dimensional by Diamond Rings
23. History Speaks by Deep Sea Diver
24. A Different Ship by Here We Go Magic
25. Negotiations by the Helio Sequence
26. Moms by Menomena
27. The Sound of the Life of the Mind by Ben Folds Five
28. Shields by Grizzly Bear
29. Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun by The Wooden Sky
30. Fragrant World by Yeasayer
31. Reign of Terror by Sleigh Bells

What is the Bacon Calendar?

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