#22 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — Deep Sea Diver

January 10, 2021 by Royal Stuart

Impossible Weight by Deep Sea Diver

How is it that Deep Sea Diver, Seattle’s little engine that could, is seemingly everywhere in my area, but barely talked about outside of the Pacific Northwest? Impossible Weight, the band’s third full-length album in their 16+ year history, is utterly fantastic, but if you’re not my neighbor, you’ve probably never even heard of them. The album was #1 on KEXP listener’s Top 90.3 albums of 2020, yet Pitchfork doesn’t have a single article about them. It’s as if we’re watching two parallel universes battle it out right in front of us.

Be that as it may, please now consider yourself part of the inner circle. Now you know. And if you’re a long-time follower, you might have already known, as the band’s debut album appeared on the Top 31 at #23 back in 2012. On top of that, Sharon van Etten (no stranger to the Bacon Top 31), makes an appearance on Impossible Weight’s title song, creating a duet with Deep Sea Diver’s Jessica Dobson that’s entirely overloaded with singing talent. Makes me wonder if Pitchfork, in their lack of recognition of Deep Sea Diver, has a beef to pick with someone related to the band and is being spiteful.

I guess Deep Sea Diver isn’t for everybody, but if you’re a fan of female-led indie rock, you’ll love them. Someday Dobson’s name will be as well known as van Etten, or Barnett, or Phair. Until then, all we can do is enjoy them with additional fervor and shout their name from the rooftops. The rest of the world will catch up eventually.

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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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#23 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — The Avalanches

January 09, 2021 by Royal Stuart

We Will Always Love You by The Avalanches

“Well-known vocalists singing atop dreamy electronic music” has always been a favorite genre of mine, yet somehow The Avalanches have eluded me until now. Granted, they’ve only released three albums in their 23 years as a band, but all three are phenomenal, and I’m ashamed to have missed out on them until now. It’s ok, go ahead and laugh, I deserve it. But if you, too, haven’t heard of them before, have I got an album for you!

We Will Always Love You, at 71 minutes long, might actually be better bylined “The Avalanches and a mind-boggling number of collaborators.” A cake of fantastic original instrumentation blended with hundreds of samples, with the icing of roughly twenty “with…” names scattered across the 25 songs on the album. To whit (along with links to the videos):

“The Divine Chord” with MGMT and Johnny Marr, shown above
“Running Red Lights” with Rivers Cuomo and Pink Siifu
“Interstellar Love” with Leon Bridges
“Take Care In Your Dreaming” with Denzel Curry, Tricky & Sampa The Great
“Wherever You Go” with Jamie xx, Neneh Cherry and CLYPSO
“Reflecting Light” with Sananda Maitreya and Vashti Bunyan
“We Will Always Love You” with Blood Orange
And other song collaborations without videos featuring Orono, Perry Ferrell, Cola Boyy, Mick Jones, Kurt Vile, Karen O, Cornelius and Kelly Moran

Additionally, there’s another video medley of songs from the album, blended together as a film of experimental choreography created using 3D volumetric capture techniques in collaboration with TEM Studios and Rambert Dance London.

Whew! Impressive, to say the least. If you like Washed Out or Odesza, you’re going to absolutely love this record. Jump on it ASAP.

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#24 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — IDLES

January 08, 2021 by Royal Stuart

Ultra Mono by IDLES

If ever there was a year for loud, positive-change-oriented punk rock, 2020 was it. IDLES, the five-piece band of rockers from Bristol, are very much in the right place and the right time. The first time IDLES appeared on the Top 31 was for their 2018 album Fear as an Act of Resistance (#16 that year), and I was a reluctant convert. It took me a bit to warm up to the band that year.

Sure, there was plenty to be angry about in 2018, but nothing like the insanity of 2020. Ultra Mono, the band’s third album, instantly grabbed me. When the heavy bass and drums kick in on the opening song “War,” you’re jolted out of your seat and immediately flooded with adrenaline. 43 minutes later you emerge exhausted and drenched in sweat, having experienced every emotion in the most cathartic therapy session ever.

Lead singer Joe Talbot’s lyrics circle around easy breezy topics such as the modern sociopolitical climate, class struggle, mental health and toxic masculinity. He barks at you in the angry, violent tone typically reserved for army sergeants at boot camp. And the two guitars, bass and drums carry his voice along a war-torn, muddy path running along no-man’s zone. It’s not quiet, at all, ever.

But it’s perfect for 2020.

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#25 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — clipping.

January 07, 2021 by Royal Stuart

Visions of Bodies Being Burned by clipping.

“Horrorcore rap” was not a genre I listened to, let alone enjoyed, prior to 2020. I use the term “enjoyed” very loosely in regards to the genre, since the band at #25, clipping., is the only band I can name in said genre. But here we are, having thoroughly enjoyed some horrorcore rap and living to tell you about it.

clipping. is more than the silly full stop at the end of their name that makes it difficult to write about them. They’re a trio of late-thirties men who met in various grade-school/college settings: two producers (William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes) and a lead rapper Daveed Diggs. Yes, that Daveed Diggs. In fact, when I first heard clipping., it was on KEXP, and I was stunned to hear Diggs’ vocals singing not about guns and ships and what he’d missed, but instead about gore and blood and horror movie-related nastiness.

I wasn‘t super excited about what I was hearing, but I was a big enough Hamilton fan to look deeper. This was when the band’s previous album, There Existed an Addiction to Blood, was making the rounds a couple years ago, and when I listened I was totally put off and never went back to it. It didn’t make an appearance on the 2019 Top 31.

This new album, Visions of Bodies Being Burned, is actually an extension of that previous work, so you’d think I’d continue to have that bad taste in my mouth, and I did upon first listen. But over time I found myself going back to it a few times. It was the band’s KEXP at home session that pushed them over into the “Top 31 worthy” category for me. Watching the trio put these complicated songs together separately from each of their homes, and then hearing their interview with Larry Mizelle, Jr. afterwards, I found them quite endearing.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you dislike this music. It’s not easy to get into, for sure. But watch that KEXP session linked above, and I think you might have a change of heart.

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#26 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — Wolf Parade

January 06, 2021 by Royal Stuart

Thin Mind by Wolf Parade

Starting up this review, the first thought I had was “it wouldn’t be a Top 31 if a Spencer Krug or Dan Boeckner band wasn’t on it.” While that’s not entirely true, with the latest Wolf Parade album here at #26, these two men have now appeared on 66% of my Top 31s: three times combined as Wolf Parade (#17 in 2010, #14 in 2017, and now Thin Mind in 2020; Krug thrice as Moonface (#27 in 2011, #23 in 2013, #31 in 2018); and Boeckner twice (with The Divine Fits at #11 in 2012 and The Operators at #31 just last year). The men are prolific at making great rock music.

Thin Mind is Wolf Parade’s fifth LP, and they continue to build upon the same formula that brought them to mass stardom with Apologies to Queen Mary back in 2005. There isn’t much “new” about this new album — it’s still unmistakably them, thanks to the unique vocals from Krug and Boeckner. According to the album description by their label, the always-great Seattle-based Sub Pop Records, the subject matter of this collection of songs is all about how “…the way that being around too much tech has made our focus thin” according to Krug, but I would never know it. My love of Wolf Parade is purely about the music and the voices-as-instruments of the two lead singers. The same guitar-driven hooks dominate, the bouncy Modest Mouse-like choruses get you banging your head in just the right way.

Wolf Parade was prominently on my brain in 2020 not just because of this great new album. They were also one of the last bands I saw live (February 11, 2020) before our ability to gather anywhere in public dried up thanks to Covid-19 lockdowns. The band always puts on a stellar live show, and while I was sadly missing watching live performances throughout the remainder of the year, the memory of that show, on The Showbox stage, has helped carry me through the drought. Putting the album on in my house takes me back there, every time.

Even though you weren’t there with me, maybe the album can do the same for you. Put it on, close your eyes, and imagine you’re standing on the upper level of The Showbox, ear-plugged, just to the left of the sound board, with a great view over the heads of the crowd on the floor. Now lean back and enjoy the experience. Soon we’ll get to go back there in person.

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#27 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — Hamilton Leithauser

January 05, 2021 by Royal Stuart

The Loves of Your Life by Hamilton Leithauser

I love a musician who is consistently good — someone you can recommend to anyone at any time, knowing that whatever album they choose to listen to will be well received. Hamilton Leithauser, former lead singer of the Walkmen, is one of those artists. This is now the fifth time he’s been featured in my Top 31 (with the The Walkmen at #26 in 2010 and #9 in 2012, and without at #11 in 2014, and #19 in 2016), and if I’d started the Top 31 prior to 2009, The Walkmen’s prior albums would no doubt have appeared as well.

He’s damn good.

Leithauser is a crooner, but one who’s taken 24-grade sandpaper to his vocal cords. He pushes his 42-year-old voice to the brink, sacrificing his throat’s well-being with an intensity that not many would dare try. The roughness of his voice is in direct contrast to the pristine, perfectly engineered instrumentation of his music. Blended together, he creates a sound matched by no other.

As he says at the start of the promo video above, the songs on The Loves of Your Life are all about specific people Leithauser knows personally. His circle of friends and acquaintances proves to be ample clay from which to mold, as the album’s 11 songs each form a unique, beautiful piece of storytelling. The album is a fitting continuation of his 20+-year career, and one I’m proud to recommend to you now.

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#28 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — Thelonious Monk

January 04, 2021 by Royal Stuart

Palo Alto (Live) by Thelonious Monk

I’ll be the first person to tell you that I know next to nothing about jazz. I always enjoy it when I hear it playing, but the most jazzy my house ever tends to get is the one month of every year that we listen to the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Thankfully, that changed in 2020. As a fan of new music, and good graphic design, I was drawn to the Palo Alto (Live) album cover, so I downloaded and listened. Of course I already knew the name Thelonious Monk, but I couldn’t tell you the name of any of his albums, or particular performances of his that were good. Upon listening to Palo Alto (Live), a previously unreleased recording of his from 1968, I was immediately taken back in time. The quiet, almost polite sounds of the audience clapping, the smooth sounds of the drums, sax, bass and Monk’s piano, all capture an era very much removed from today.

Monk died at age 64 back in 1982, so he personally had nothing to do with the release of this music for us to all enjoy. The story of how a 15-year old kid pulled this Palo Alto High School concert together (captured in the documentary above), the recording by the school’s janitor, and the tapes being stored away and “lost” for 50+ years, all adds to the music’s mystique.

Being completely uneducated about jazz, I can’t give you good reference points for what to expect here. But what I can tell you is that if you love the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas like I do, then you should love this recording by Monk and his band.

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#29 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — Soccer Mommy

January 03, 2021 by Royal Stuart

color theory by Soccer Mommy

Sophie Allison, otherwise known as Soccer Mommy, has a talent for layering dark, grim lyrics on top of bright, catchy pop hooks. Whereas Tricky’s darkness stemmed from a lifetime of external difficulty and suffering, Allison’s pain comes mostly from within. If the stories contained on the Nashville-based singer/songwriter’s fantastic second album, color theory, are to be believed, she suffers from imposter syndrome and plenty of inner turmoil. Part of this singular focus on herself is likely due to her age – at roughly 23 years old, she’s not lived enough life to really know how much the world could hurt her. Additionally, it’s quite difficult to make a living as an indie-rocker, and that’s only going to fuel that inner fire.

Allison’s first album, Clean, unfortunately evaded my radar long enough to be overlooked for the 2018 Top 31 — not the first time I’ve made a mistake in my 12 years of chronicling the years’ best albums. (Incidentally, it occurs to me that I’ve been writing about my favorite albums each year since Allison was about 11 years old. Yeesh.) But since discovering her in the early months of 2019, Soccer Mommy has taken hold of my playlist and continues to add to and build up my love for her music.

The growth that Allison has shown in her music from Clean (an excellent album on its own) to color theory is subtle at first listen. Upon repeated plays, the songs on the second album demonstrate a greater intelligence. The same ties to the bluntness of Liz Phair or use of rhyming couplets like Taylor Swift are still there, but color theory shows Allison bringing a depth to the music that is all her own. And this is only her second album! I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for Soccer Mommy.

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#30 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — Tricky

January 02, 2021 by Royal Stuart

Fall to Pieces by Tricky

Whereas the album at #31 was bubbly, dancey and fun, the album at #30 is the polar opposite: dark and moody — and if you dig a little deeper on it, depressing.

Adrian Nicholas Matthews Thaws, aka Tricky, has been around a long time, and he’s had his share of tough times. His stellar 1995 debut album Maxinquaye was rooted in feelings about his mother, who had died when he was only four years old. Just a month after the release of that album, his daughter Mina Mazy was born. Tricky’s musical career has shadowed his daughter’s life ever since, each progressing through ups and downs over the 24+ years from her birth.

Sadly, Mazy took her own life in May 2019, and it hit Tricky as it would any parent who’s child has died. He receded from the public eye, pulled into himself, and didn’t write anything for a long while. He eventually turned back to music, just as the global pandemic was warming up. The 13 albums he’d released up until her death were the end of a 24-year chapter in his life. (Check out his album False Idols at #30 back on the Top 31 of 2013.) Fall to Pieces, released in September 2020, is the result of all that pain and suffering, and the beginning of the next chapter.

On the surface, the album feels very Tricky. He is the master of trip hop, after all, and he doesn’t let his longtime fans down here. But the lyrics and stories the album builds over its scant 28 minutes leave you with a sense of foreboding and loneliness that hit exactly the right target for me over the last year. I sometimes seek out music that expands upon my inner darkness — it helps to spill it out into the world, get it out of my head and into my surrounding space (even if it is just in my headphones).

Yesterday I watched this great KEXP at home performance and interview with Tricky. After a handful of remote video songs, Tricky and DJ Larry Mizelle, Jr talk about his career and what went into making this album. Tricky is quite humble, and forthcoming about his journey after the death of his daughter. He’s in therapy for the first time (at 52!), and he’s nowhere near the end of recovering from the loss.

“I’m getting stronger. The secret now is finding what the point is of being here. I’m getting there, gradually.”

He also talks about the new material he’s started working on with the legendary Lee “Scratch” Perry, for a future album he’s already named Lonely Guess which will hopefully come out this year. While we anxiously await that new material, check out the moving Fall to Pieces. It’s short, and worth every minute.

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#31 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — Chromeo

January 01, 2021 by Royal Stuart

What a year this has been. Covid-19. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and the Black Lives Matter movement. Months of devastating fires along the west coast and Australia. An anxiety-inducing election cycle ending in the winding down of the worst presidency America has ever seen. Things are dire, and we find ourselves improperly equipped to deal with it all.

I am one of the lucky ones; I have my family to support me — my loving wife, Anna, and our two wonderful children. I know a lot of people don’t have that built-in parachute. I don’t know how I would have fared on my own, without having people I love stuck inside with me. But I do know we all can share in the healing power of music.

You are not alone.

This became my mantra throughout 2020, thanks in large part to KEXP (Seattle’s wonderful public radio station, found at kexp.org or 90.3 FM), who constantly repeated those four words, and furthermore, proved it every day through the music they played and the collective healing they instigated. Despite the chaos of the year, KEXP was always there, playing exactly what I needed to hear.

More often than any other year, I reached for music as a form of therapy. A lot of what I sought out were old standards — albums I knew that could predictably lift me up out of, or to help expand upon the feelings of melancholy and sorrow I was drowning in. In addition to that, thankfully, the industry continued to kick out amazing new music for me to latch onto, despite them being unable to spread that music through live performance for most of the year.

While reeling in the years I still listened to plenty of new music. As per usual, I had a tough time narrowing down to just 31 new albums that I felt sum up the year best for me. There are some Top 31 regulars on countdown this year, and also a lot of new artists. Some albums that will make you sad, and others the will put a smile on your face. And hopefully some surprises along the way. This first one will make you laugh for sure.

Quarantine Casanova by Chromeo

This almost feels like cheating. Quarantine Casanova, by Canadian electro-funk duo Chromeo, is intended to be a joke, and it is so painfully current. Musicians David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel put together five stellar songs about the current global pandemic, and then extended that concept by tacking on the instrumental versions of those five songs, making for a funky dance “album” that is just over 30 minutes long.

They sing about our collective social distance standard on “Six Feet Away.” They name drop Dr. Fauci on “’Roni Got Me Stressed Out.” And in the video above, they sing about being someone’s “Clorox Wipe”. These words didn’t mean anything a year ago, but now they’re burned onto our brains and will forever more bring back specific memories to everyone who has lived through this pandemic.

Chromeo clearly has fun with their music. Over the years I’ve danced through their live set at least once or twice, a huge grin on my face. Quarantine Casanova is their sixth release, and their entire catalog is full of danceable fun. I’m 99% sure I’ve not included a joke album like this on the Top 31 in the past, and I likely won’t again in the future. This album is for right now, and right now only. It got my family up and dancing about while giggling a few times throughout the year. And if you haven’t heard it, I recommend firing it up right now – as Chromeo sing, “I gotta take care of my mental health.”

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#1 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Lizzo

January 31, 2020 by Royal Stuart

Cuz I Love You by Lizzo

Of course it’s Lizzo. How could it be anyone else? I’m guessing most of you saw this coming from a mile away. Nobody would have predicted Tool at #2, but turns out “Lizzo’s going to be your #1” was a pretty safe statement to make in my proximity. I had a lot of conversations about music in 2019 (much like any other year), and of all the artists I spoke about throughout the year, Lizzo’s name is the one that got brought up the most, and with good reason.

If you’ve not yet heard of Lizzo, you need to pull yourself out of that cave you’ve been living in the past few years. Cuz I Love You is fantastic from start to finish, with a huge number of banging pop / hip-hop songs. This was an album many years in the making. She started her career with two independently-released albums that never hit my radar: Lizzobangers in 2013, at age 24, and Big Grrrl Small World in 2015. In the time between that 2015 album and what culminated in the 2019 release of Cuz I Love You, Lizzo, now 31, released song after huge-internet-famous song. In 2016, she released her first major-label record, an EP called Coconut Oil, which notably contained “Good As Hell,” eventually added as an extra song on the “Super Deluxe” version of Cuz I Love You. In 2017, she released the standalone single “Truth Hurts,” which would also eventually appear on Love, albeit in a “Deluxe” version.

And that’s about when I first started hearing about her. Not enough to really start paying attention, but it started to be impossible to escape her name popping up. Then, in January 2019, “Juice,” the true lead single from Love, (and featured above), started to get play on KEXP and I could ignore her no longer. The full Love album came out in April, and I’ve listened to that album at least once a week ever since.

It is SO GOOD.

The album and its surrounding hoopla reminds me a lot of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s ascendance to the top of the world back in 2012. The duo was inescapable, and their album, The Heist, (#8 that year), was chock full of phenomenal hits. Unlike Macklemore, Lizzo has the full weight of a major label (Atlantic Records) behind her. Like Billie Eilish at #12, Lizzo and her people have mastered the marketing side of the equation, to great effect. In addition to “Juice” above, Lizzo has released seven other videos from Cuz I Love You:

“Good as Hell,” two versions: original from 2016 and new version just released back in December.
“Water Me”, originally released back in 2017.
“Truth Hurts,” originally from the Coconut Oil EP in 2017.
“Boys,” which came out in 2018.
“Cuz I Love You,” the second single released from the album, came out in February.
“Tempo,” with Missy Elliott, came out back in July.

As you can see, Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, does not look like your typical pop diva. How she carries herself is a definite part of her overall charm. As the lyrics to “Exactly How I Feel” say:

Love me or hate me
Ooh, I ain't changing
And I don't give a fuck, no

I don’t believe that she doesn’t give any fucks, but I do think the fucks she does give are not what you would call “typical.” She wants to be loved and accepted for who she is and how she is, and she is consequently the best embodiment of the word “empowerment” you will find out there in 2020. This album is sexy and raunchy, but in the most positive way. As a middle-aged white man, I’ll admit it’s a bit odd to hear myself loudly sing “Once upon a time, I was a ho; I don't even wanna ho no mo,” but her music is so infectious, her charisma so potent, you can’t help but be moved to join in.

Some years I have trouble knowing who I want to put atop the list. Other years, it’s much easier. This was one of the easier years. I knew back in, oh, October, that this was going to be my #1 album of the year. Lizzo dominated 2019, and all signs are pointing to her dominating 2020 and beyond as well. I plan to be right there alongside her.

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

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#2 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Tool

January 30, 2020 by Royal Stuart

Fear Inoculum by Tool

There’s nothing like the unexpected. I didn’t expect to be hearing a new Tool album in 2019, and I bet most if not all of you who’ve been following the Top 31 didn’t expect to see Tool on the Top 31, especially this high up in the ranking. And yet.

Fear Inoculum, the fifth record from these prog-rock metal masters, came out at the end of August, to my absolute surprise and delight. Tool released their first album, the nearly triple-platinum selling Undertow way back in 1993 (my freshman year of college). That’s 27 years ago. They followed that up with my favorite Tool album, Ænima, in 1996. Then Lateralus in 2001, and finally 10,000 Days in 2006. I say “finally” for the 2006 album, because nothing came after it for so long.

According to Wikipedia), the band never officially broke up after that 2006 album, but it sure felt like it to me. Their music wasn’t on streaming media, so the only way you could acquire it in the interim was through physical media or illegal download (or potentially “illegal,” or at least “unofficial,” vinyl purchases, which I did by mistake, twice). 13 years, four multi-platinum albums. Then nothing until August 1, 2019, when the band suddenly released their entire catalog on streaming sites (and consequently set a bunch of online download records), along with a new single. Called “Fear Inoculum,” the new single was 10+ minutes long, and consequently set a record itself for longest song ever to appear on the Billboard Top 100. All of a sudden we were swimming in Tool again, seemingly out of nowhere.

The full Fear Inoculum album came out at the end of that month, on August 29, 2019, a full 13 years and 110 days since their previous release. Just to drive the point home, that’s 13 years to make four albums, then another 13 years to make the fifth. And oh was it worth the wait.

Fear Inoculum, in its full digital form, is 86 minutes and 38 seconds of pure, heavy prog-rock bliss (if you buy the physical form of the album, you’re limited to the limitations of the form, consequently get a shorter album, at 79 minutes and 10 seconds, and find that three instrumental interludes have been removed). The album is 100% predictable Tool: it’s loud, guitar and drum heavy, set in a myriad of difficult-to-headbang time signatures, and all capped off by lead singer Maynard James Keenan’s maniacal ramblings. And it’s glorious.

Tool is definitely not for everyone. But if the multi-platinum sales didn’t tell you, I will: the band’s music is definitely for a lot more people than you might otherwise think. They live outside of the smaller confines of any one genre because they cross over so many. The Grammys keep filing them as “metal” (they’ve won four Grammys, most recently for “Best Metal Performance” for the 15+ minute song “7empest” from Inoculum). But “art rock,” “progressive rock,” and “alternative” genres all come with their own fan bases, and they all include Tool squarely in the middle of their boundaries.

While Keenan stands as the crazy, wine-making, child-brained front man of the band, it‘s the drums of Danny Carey and guitars of Adam Jones that really carries the band to greatness. Along with bassist Justin Chancellor, the three of them create the meandering, multi-dimensional music that is “Tool” all the way to the finish line before finally involving Keenan (who is known to be a complete diva) to write lyrics and sing on top. For 26 years now, the band has honed a sound that is unlike anything else out there, and it is perfect.

If you missed the original Tool train, and are only just now discovering them for the first time, then Fear Inoculum is a perfectly fine place to dive in. But if you’re a longtime fan, like me, then Inoculum is going to be so much more. Tool has managed to climb back to the top of the pack, and I can only hope they’re here to stay for another 13 years into the future. Maybe by then they’ll have created a proper video for this album (sorry for the stupid audio-only video above).

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

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2009-2018 Top 31s

#3 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Vampire Weekend

January 29, 2020 by Royal Stuart

Father of the Bride by Vampire Weekend

When I first heard Father of the Bride, Vampire Weekend’s fourth album, I wasn’t into it. Rostam (Batmanglij, whose solo album Half-Light was #2 in 2017) had left the band, and I was letting that fact cloud my enjoyment of what lead singer/songwriter Ezra Koenig had been able to put together on his own. It was too catchy, too poppy, too giddy, and it didn’t offer enough diversity upon first listens. But over time, I kept reaching back for it, without really knowing why. Then, somewhere around the 10th time through the album, I realized I knew all the songs, I would happily sing along to most of it, and I had nothing but positive feelings about the album. It had somehow turned a corner in my head, and then never looked back.

The first three Vampire Weekend albums were collaborative efforts between Koenig and Rostam, and they were all fantastic (their 2nd album, Contra appeared at #6 in 2010 and Modern Vampires of the City appeared at #3 back in 2013). When Rostam left the band, it clearly hit Koenig hard, as there was a six year gap between when their previous album came out and this new one. But the wait has proven worth it.

Nearly exactly like Bon Iver (discussed back at #9), Vampire Weekend’s first four albums have been unbelievably good. Like Bon Iver, their first album came out in 2008, and their most recent fourth album came out in 2019. Both bands have produced a fantastic, if limited, body of amazing music in that time. Just four albums, in 12 years time. This isn’t scattershot, push a bunch of stuff out there and see what sticks. Instead, this is studied, worked and reworked music, signs of an artist / group of artists never being satisfied with their work, and not knowing exactly when to stop. It makes you wonder: how much would you like the work if they’d stopped working on it five months prior? What about five months after? Somehow, they find that magic formula and release it just when it strikes gold.

Back on Christmas Day, a podcast that I love called Song Exploder released an episode featuring Koenig, talking about the making of the song “Harmony Hall”. I recommend giving it (and every other episode of the podcast) a listen, because it provides so much insight into the struggle, joy, pain, and elation that goes into writing music, as spoken by the artists themselves. Without listening to it, I never would have paid attention to the lyrics of the song:

Anger wants a voice, voices wanna sing
Singers harmonize 'til they can't hear anything
I thought that I was free from all that questionin'
But every time a problem ends, another one begins

It’s actually a quite dark song. The main line of the song, “I don’t wanna live like this, but I don’t wanna die,” is actually a reprise of that line from a previous Vampire Weekend song, “Finger Back” from Modern Vampires of the City. So much is said in that sentence: I’m not depressed or sad enough to kill myself, but I really don’t like how my life is currently. It’s a problem I think most everyone can relate to, and it’s that kind of turn of phrase that Vampire Weekend, and Koenig in particular, is great at.

Father of the Bride is not your typical Vampire Weekend album. But Vampire Weekend is no longer your typical Vampire Weekend. I’m glad Koenig was able to move on in such a great way, after his critically successful third album resulted in the departure of his songwriting partner. I’m anxious to see where they both head next.

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

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2009-2018 Top 31s

#4 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Big Thief

January 28, 2020 by Royal Stuart

Two Hands + U.F.O.F. by Big Thief

Sometimes it takes me a while to get into a band that you would otherwise think would be right up my alley. Big Thief, here at #4 with yet another double-album release in 2019 (if you’re counting at home, that‘s four total artists that each released two albums in 2019 and appeared here on the Top 31: Sault, TR/ST, Foals, and now Big Thief), are exactly that. They have all the right pieces and parts: lead female singer with a crackling voice, jangly and unmistakably “indie” guitars, and they hail from Brooklyn, New York. And yet, it took them releasing two utterly amazing albums in one year for me to sit up and pay attention.

The quartet has a traditional mix of guitar (Buck Meek), bass (Max Oleartchik), drums (James Krivchenia), and vocals (Adrianne Lenker, who also plays guitar). The last time we heard from Big Thief on the Top 31, we were listening to their 2nd album, Capacity, all the way back at #23 in 2017. Fast forward to right now, and U.F.O.F. was nominated for Best Alternative Album at the Grammys (it didn’t win).

Like the Recording Academy, I no longer misunderstand the band, and I can finally claim to be a true fan, excited to pass on that love to you. I admit I’ve not been able to parse Lenker’s lyrics (I don’t hear lyrics in songs, usually), but her singing, often doubled up on herself, is pushed forward in the mix, all the way to the fore, so close to your ears you can feel her breath. Meek’s guitar work is at times delicate and finger-picked, providing a metronomic beat that provides a bed for Lenker to lie down upon. Krivchenia’s drum kit sounds reserved, and small, preferring tight percussion to elaborate solos that reminds me of Paul Banwatt’s drumming for Rural Alberta Advantage.

It’s impossible for me to tell you which of these two albums is better than the other. They both hit different buttons for me, but I’ve reached for both equally since they both were released. You’re just going to have to listen to them both yourself and report back which one you prefer.

PS — I’m really peeved that the band hasn’t released any proper videos for any of the songs from either of these albums. This dumb audio-only clip will have to do.

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

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2009-2018 Top 31s

#5 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Sharon Van Etten

January 27, 2020 by Royal Stuart

Remind Me Tomorrow by Sharon Van Etten

It took me a little while to warm up to Sharon Van Etten. Her first two albums came out in 2009 and 2010, and I know I heard a song or two off of them at that time, but her music just wasn’t my bag. In the beginning, the Top 31 was a lot more subconsciously, and therefore outwardly, male-centric. But my listening habits have changed quite a bit over the last 11 years. When Van Etten’s Aaron Dessner-produced third album, Tramp, came out in 2012, things started to snap into place around here. That album was at #13 back in 2012. She followed that up pretty quickly with Are We There, which hit the Top 31 all the way up at #4 in 2014.

And then there was nothing. For five long years, Etten didn’t release another album, concentrating instead on acting (she starred in the Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij (Rostam’s brother) Netflix series “OA”, which ran from 2016-2019) and starting a family (she had her first child, a son, in 2017). It started to feel as if the singing career was over for her, and who can blame her with a 2-year old and a lucrative acting gig. But turns out it was just a break, because on January 18, 2019 she released the fantastic Remind Me Tomorrow.

According to Wikipedia, Van Etten wrote the album while she “was pregnant with her first child, attending school to obtain a degree in psychology and starring in the Netflix series The OA (2016) and making a cameo in Twin Peaks (2017).” With so much going on, she seems to have done the impossible: start a family, earn a college degree and do series acting all while putting together one hell of a banging record.

Remind Me Tomorrow is not like Van Etten’s other albums. This isn’t a slow dirge (I mean that nicely). These songs are rock n’ roll, pure and simple. This is Van Etten taking the reins from PJ Harvey, and from Patti Smith before her. In addition to the wonderful “Comeback Kid” shown in the totally 80s video above, check out these other videos and you’ll hear what I’m talking about:

Yes, “Jupiter 4” is slow. But “No One” and “Seventeen” are not, and she’s blowing up everything she used to represent. It feels as if she’s not only expanded what she’s capable of (in music and in real life), but she’s also purposefully stepping away from where she was on her earlier albums. These are not songs of sadness and lamenting and longing, which became her calling card on those earlier albums. The songs on Remind Me Tomorrow are about rebirth, reestablishing herself as something to be reckoned with. This is Van Etten’s world, and I’m so glad she’s allowed us to live in it.

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

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2009-2018 Top 31s

#6 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — The National

January 26, 2020 by Royal Stuart

I Am Easy to Find by The National

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Subscribe to the 2019 Bacon Top 31 Apple Music playlist
2009-2018 Top 31s

#7 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Sault

January 25, 2020 by Royal Stuart

5 + 7 by Sault

Very little is known about Sault and the two amazing albums they released in 2019, 5 in April and 7 in September. The “band” doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page, which seems impossible here in 2020. What I can tell you is that these two albums are amazing, and you should drop everything to listen to them right now. I suspect for most people reading this (which is not very many of people, admittedly) this will likely be your first exposure to the band, and that is exactly why I create the Top 31 every year. I love turning people onto new music.

I’ve been able to piece a bit together about Sault from various other sources. There’s an article in The Guardian that tells me that most likely Sault is made up of at least three core individuals: Dean Josiah Cover (aka Inflo, who teamed up with Danger Mouse to produce Michael Kiwanuka’s self titled album listed at #10 this year); British soul singer Cleo Sol as one of the vocalists; and Chicago-based rapper Kid Sister as another. But these are all just educated guesses.

These albums appear here due to what I call the “KEXP influence.” If you’re unaware, KEXP is the best radio station on the planet, they’re based right here in Seattle, and they play stellar music 24/7. Sault got lots of airplay this year on the station, so much so that John “in the Morning” Richards, the weekday morning DJ and associate music director at the station, ranked 5 his #1 album of the year.

These albums blend soul, funk, psychedelic and pop hooks in such a way that you can’t help but move in your seat. At times, I can hear a tUnE-yArDs influence. At others, like in the song “Something’s in the Air” above, I hear hints of Lemon Jelly. Each song packs a punch, so I recommend listening all the way through both albums at your next available moment. Hopefully we’ll learn more about the band soon. I do admire their ability to remain anonymous, as it’s something that seems nearly impossible to do in today’s day and age. They’ve cracked the code, and somehow released two phenomenal albums without giving anything up about themselves. I can’t wait for the potential 9, 11, and 13 to follow.

Lastly — I’m sorry for the non-video video. Unfortunately, the “band” hasn’t put out any real music videos. C’est la vie.

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

Subscribe to the 2019 Bacon Top 31 Apple Music playlist
2009-2018 Top 31s

#8 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Elbow

January 24, 2020 by Royal Stuart

Giants of All Sizes by Elbow

From one former #1 (Bon Iver, just seen at #9) to another, this time the venerable British masters Elbow. Unlike Bon Iver, I did not learn about Elbow until well into their musical careers, picking them up on the heels of their fantastic fourth album, 2008’s The Seldom Seen Kid. Every album they’ve released since then has appeared on the Top 31. Even though this new one, their eighth, is appearing in the lofty slot of #8 in this year’s Top 31, that represents a downward slide from all previous Top 31 appearances: Build a Rocket Boys! was #5 in 2011, The Takeoff and Landing of Everything just missed being #1 in 2014, and they quickly recovered with their #1 album Little Fictions in 2017. An outstanding showing overall.

Giants of All Sizes is a bit different from previous efforts, and that may account for their slip here in 2019. Little Fictions took the #1 spot based on its connection to my personal life that year. It featured songs that felt like they were speaking directly to me. Giants of All Sizes evokes a wide variety of new styles and influences for the band, but it doesn’t have that same feeling of connectedness for me. The first time you hear Elbow, your instinct is to compare them to Peter Gabriel, as lead singer Guy Garvey’s voice is Gabriel’s vocal doppelgänger. On top of that, the band’s production sits squarely in the same neighborhood as Gabriel’s later work (1986’s So and after). Outside of that, Giants sounds a bit like The Beatles at times (check out “”).

The lyrics of this album are decidedly darker than past albums — a purposeful slant, as three key figures in the band’s orbit all died during the production of the album (including Garvey’s father). But that doesn’t diminish the sweeping orchestral arrangements and slow builds, which have become Elbow’s signature over their 23 years of existence. If you’ve not listened to Elbow in the past, pick a spot anywhere and dive in. Giants is a perfectly fine spot to get your first taste, but be sure to move onto any of the last three albums. Elbow is consistently great, something that’s surprisingly hard to say about a lot of artists these days.

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

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2009-2018 Top 31s

#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

Subscribe to the 2019 Bacon Top 31 Apple Music playlist
2009-2018 Top 31s

#10 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Michael Kiwanuka

January 22, 2020 by Royal Stuart

Kiwanuka by Michael Kiwanuka

We’ve broken into the top 10! British singer/songwriter Michael Kiwanuka barely makes the cut with his fantastic self-titled third album, Kiwanuka. You may or may not know his name, but you likely know at least one of his songs. Back in 2017, “Cold Little Heart,” from 2016’s Love & Hate (which did not make the Top 31 that year, in retrospect a fairly large oversight, but I never heard the album that year) became the theme song for the first season of the wildly popular HBO show “Big Little Lies.” (Related, that song’s video is well worth watching, as it stars then up-and-coming but now big-time actor LaKeith Stanfield.)

Kiwanuka’s music is approachable from any side, and feels like it was created for the widest acceptance from anyone 30 years or older. So, naturally, I love it. It’s a slightly odd thing to go through an album and think “Well that was perfectly acceptable. Not a damn thing was controversial, difficult, or seemingly pushed any buttons (or boundaries).” The album was produced by Inflo (more from him later in the Top 31) and Danger Mouse (whose own 2019 album, Lux Prima, created in conjunction with Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, just barely missed the cut-off for the Top 31). That’s a pedigree behind the music that few artists can claim, and it becomes clear why Kiwanuka is killing it.

In addition to “Hero,” shown in the video above, there are a few other stand-outs on the album. Again: something for everyone. Be sure to check out the other two videos from the album, as Kiwanuka not only has a great audio-production team behind him, but his video-production connections appear to be just as stellar: “Money” and the very very catchy “You Ain’t the Problem.” The whole album is easily consumed and easy to love. Eat it up.

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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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