#21 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Pale Jay

January 11, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Bewilderment by Pale Jay

Soul music has had its ups and downs here on the Top 31. From Seattle’s own Pickwick hitting #1 back in 2011, to Leon Bridges and St. Paul & the Broken Bones, to the goddess herself, Sharon Jones in 2017 (RIP), the genre remains alive and well. Enter Pale Jay, a newcomer to the field, with his debut album, Bewilderment. With a voice like Lee Fields or Curtis Mayfield, and easy-living music evocative of Khruangbin, Pale Jay will have you leaning back in your chair and blissfully dreaming about easy breezy summer days.

There’s not much information out there about Pale Jay. He has no wikipedia page, he plays anonymously, and his web presence is boiled down to a single Bandcamp page. He does maintain an active Instagram account, a la SAULT or Banksy. The music on his page only goes back to his first EP, back in October 2021. And aside from a couple singles, this short-but-sweet debut album (with eight songs and coming in at just 24 minutes) is all we get of him. I did find a site reviewing this album who claims Pale Jay was trained as a jazz vocalist and pianist and calls southern California home.

There have been a few artists over the years here on the Top 31 who have chosen to keep their identity a mystery. Some choose to wear obfuscating makeup, such as The Knife or Fever Ray (2009 and 2017). Others choose to stay out of videos and remain unnamed, like Sault (2019, 2020, 2021, and who could forget their SEVEN albums that were #1 collectively just last year). Or there’s artists like Orville Peck, who have worn a mask in public for their entire musical career, and have never dropped character when the public is watching or listening.

Pale Jay fits into the Peck line of anonymity. But whereas Orville Peck has been around long enough that people have been able to put together who his true identity is (thanks to matching up the tattoos he wears all over his body), Pale Jay remains entirely anonymous for the time being. He wears a red balaclava in public (reminiscent of Pussy Riot, who choose to remain relatively anonymous for fear of retribution from the Russian Government), along with a white bucket hat with a red plastic brim. Those combined generally with an all-white turtleneck and white pants, he is effectively covered from head to toe aside from his (yes, pale-skinned) hands, ankles, lips, eyes, and sometimes forearms. (It’s only a matter of time before someone identifies him by the bird tattoo on his left inner elbow.)

You can watch videos Pale Jay has created for each song on the album, each featuring the artist in his signature costume, mostly walking / biking / boating in one long take to each of these songs.

There’s also this video for a beautiful acoustic rendition of “By The Lake” that will set aside any worries that Pale Jay is unable to master that gorgeous falsetto in a live setting. I chose the featured video above only because it has him driving while lip syncing, with others blissfully trusting their lives to the masked man behind the wheel.

Put Bewilderment on, right now. It’s a short, 24 minute commitment, and you won’t be disappointed. I guarantee it.

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#22 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Ratboys

January 10, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

The Window by Ratboys

There seem to have been a slew of artists on the 2023 Top 31 who have been writing, performing, and producing music for over a decade before finally hitting my radar and/or making something great enough to beat out the competition. Please add Chicago’s Ratboys to that list. The band formed back in 2010 when their lead singer, Julia Steiner, and guitarist David Sagan were going to Notre Dame. They released their debut album, AOID, in 2015. Four albums later, here we are with their fantastic fifth full-length, The Window.

I haven’t yet compared Ratboys’ The Window against their previous work, but I feel safe in saying there’s a reason their new album has risen above the fray to land here on the Top 31, and that reason goes by the name Chris Walla. You may know Walla as a huge part of the formation and longevity of Death Cab for Cutie. He left DCFC in 2014 after 17 years, but has continued producing other band’s work to great success, including The Long Winters, The Decemberists, and Tegan and Sara.

Ratboys has a little more fuzz in their twang, but they remind me of a number of past Top 31 alt-country artists. Steiner’s vocals most closely resemble Jenny Lewis (#24 in 2014). There’s a little Big Thief (2017, 2019, and last year), and some definite Katie Crutchfield in there (aka Waxahatchee, whose Saint Cloud was #1 in 2020). If you’ve liked any of those bands, then The Window is for you.

Still having doubts? Then check out the band’s unbelievably good live set they performed at KEXP back in October. I only just watched it for the first time today, a couple days after I wrote the rest of this review, and just one day before this review is published (thanks Pete for pointing it out to me!), and now I’m wondering if I’ve ranked this album too low on the Top 31. That extended guitar solo in the middle of “Black Earth, WI” is Doug Martsch-esque. It‘s too late now to change it, but mark my words: when Ratboys’ next album is in the Top 10 for the year it comes out, I’ll come back here and read this review and remember exactly why it’s at #22.

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#23 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — DJ Shadow

January 09, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Action Adventure by DJ Shadow

Today will forever be known as the day I learned that DJ Shadow’s 1996 top-100 all-time masterpiece Endtroducing… is the Guinness World Records’ holder for “the first album to be recorded using only sampled sounds.” This feels somehow dubious / impossible, but I suppose someone had to be first, and it only adds to the greatness that is DJ Shadow’s debut. But that album is not what I’m here to talk about.

Action Adventure is DJ Shadow’s fantastic 7th studio album (his 6th album, Our Pathetic Age was #21 in 2019, and his 5th, The Mountain Will Fall, #9 in 2016). Where those two previous albums featured big-name guest vocals from the likes of Run the Jewels, Raekwon, and De La Soul, Action is almost entirely instrumental. Aside from the random vocal sample, (such as the lovely sample “All my records are tapes” repeated throughout “All My”), only “You Played Me” feels like a standalone pop song (see the video above). That vocal track, sampled from Jan Jerome’s 1990 R&B B-side “Baby, Got Me Goin,” gives the song an 80s throw-back vibe that will have you bouncing in your seat.

Lacking vocals, the rest of the album feels like it could be the soundtrack to one amazing late 20th Century movie, or perhaps the collected instrumental versions of an album that was originally released with rapping and singing on top. That’s not to say the album is not good — it is great, at being the background to your day as you go about cleaning the house, or hosting a party, or perhaps even on a run. Instead of being the soundtrack to an older movie, it can be the soundtrack to your life today. Watch the video for and listen to “Ozone Scraper,” and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

With a career nearly 30 years in length, DJ Shadow — aka Josh Davis — still has an amazing ability to tap into samples and sounds from the past and make them sound entirely new. Action Adventure fits right in with the work he did on the first U.N.K.L.E. album, 1998’s Psyence Fiction, and his 2006 album The Outsider. He remains a magician at creating beats and blending sounds, and is showing no signs of slowing down.

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#24 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Lil Yachty

January 08, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Let’s Start Here. by Lil Yachty

I can feel you all collectively rolling your eyes at this pick. That’s ok, I understand. And yet… Lil Yachty’s complete reimagining of himself, his fifth studio album Let’s Start Here., is the 24th best album of 2023.

I’d be surprised if you’ve not heard of Lil Yachty or this album. When it came out at the end of January 2023, the popular music wing of the World Wide Web was up in arms about it. Despite efforts to the contrary, I live in a fairly protected musical world, and consequently had not heard of Yachty prior to release of Let’s Start Here. So in hearing the hubbub about the album and how divisive the opinion was about it, I was intrigued. What could possibly be causing all this fuss?

Upon first listen, it’s clear this is no rap album. Experimental rock? Acid jazz? Synth pop? Psych rock? The world seemed dead set on defining the album as a Tame Impala ripoff (another band I’ve not paid any attention to — maybe now I should?) While being unable to define what it was I was hearing, I could say that I was enjoying the music. It travels all over the musical landscape, but does so in a way that feels cohesive, similar to Wish You Were Here or The Age of Adz. This is a concept album – but what is the concept?

Yachty, whose real name is Miles Parks McCollum, was just an exceedingly accomplished, viral-song inducing rapper until he released this album. A year before the album came out, and two years after his previous album, Lil Boat 3, Yachty announced in an interview his next project would be a “non-rap album,” calling it “alternative” and “like a psychedelic alternative project. It’s different. It's all live instrumentation.” It’s not his fault nobody took him at his word, because a year later that’s exactly what he released.

You’ll need to put the album on yourself to hear first hand the album that could cause so much turmoil. It might not be for you, but you’ll better understand why so many people are so confused by it.

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#25 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Tennis

January 07, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Pollen by Tennis

Tennis and I go way back. I think back to the time I wanted to be on the high school tennis team (this was the hey day of late 80s/early 90s tennis – think Reebok Pumps and Agassi vs Chang). Having had no training whatsoever, and no idea what it might take, I got the courage up to sign up for the round-robin tournament to get onto the team. Then the coach consequently forgot to put me in the lineup, and I had to muster even more courage to go ask him why. “Oh, I forgot, I’m sorry – here, I’ll have you play [name escapes me].” Turns out [name escapes me] was the literal best player on the team (and therefore had not needed to go through the round-robin either). We played a best-of-three sets match and I managed to eek out a 6-0 / 6-0 loss, surprising no-one, and resoundingly ending my budding tennis career there on the spot.

It’s a good thing Tennis, the indie-pop duo from Denver, is nothing like the tennis I know. Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley are husband and wife, and they’ve been releasing music together as Tennis for 12 years now. The phenomenal Pollen is their sixth album together, and the first one that’s resonated well enough with me to warrant repeated listening. Sometimes it just takes a while, you know?

Tennis have a shtick that may or may not work for you. Taking their album at face value, it’s full of solid pop music from start to finish. Nothing too flashy, but almost all of it catch and hummable. But then you look at their videos, such as the one above for “Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight”, or the other one released from this album, for the song “One Night with the Valet,” and it’s clear they’re totally goofing around. They’ve been doing it for their entire careers, so you’d think they’d get tired of it, but clearly not. These two videos are so fantastically bad they’re good, and that’s to say nothing of the great music featured.

Give the album a whirl. You can approach it from many sides – there’s some Chvrches in there, some Tom Tom Club, and even some Kate Bush for good measure. I know you’ll like it – and you may surprise yourself and love it enough to put it on repeat.

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#26 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Greg Mendez

January 06, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Greg Mendez by Greg Mendez

Sometimes artists don’t burst onto the scene so much as they take the long way around. Greg Mendez, from Philadelphia, has taken a long time to hit my radar: there’s an album on his Bandcamp site called “Home Videos (2006-2018)” as well as an “Early Demos” album from 2009 (14 years ago!). His gorgeous, self-titled album is his third LP in that nearly 20-year span of making music, along with 8 EPs of additional songs. And I only heard about him a month ago.

I have not (yet) had the opportunity to explore the depths of his catalogue, but this album sure makes me want to. The production on these singer/songwriter-driven songs puts Greg’s melodic, doubled voice right next to your ears, as if he’s drawn you in close to whisper something special. This places him in the musical room with Elliott Smith and Sufjan Stevens, and the simple guitar plucking that accompanies his striking melodies is from the room right across singer-songwriter hall, with Jose Gonzales and Sam Beam of Iron & Wine.

If you like any of those artists I just named, then Mendez is for you. But don’t take my word for it – download it and listen for yourself! Or you can check out these additional videos he’s created for his album:

“Maria”
“Goodbye / Trouble”

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#27 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Teenage Sequence

January 05, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Teenage Sequence by Teenage Sequence

My love for Teenage Sequence started with a live performance. I was sitting in my car, driving who knows where, and listening to KEXP. Surprisingly, I didn’t switch to something else upon hearing there was going to be a live performance from some band I’d never heard of. By the end of my drive, I was thoroughly impressed with the band.¹

Teenage Sequence is the alter ego of London-born, Texas-living singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Dewan-Dean Soomary. On the record, Soomary was backed by co-producer Kevin VanBurgen, drummer James Gulliver, and Kristin Ferebee (who happens to have been a part of Bacon Review favorites Beirut once upon a time and is now Summary’s wife). In the KEXP performance he was backed by Nick Tamburro on percussion and synths, and Rob Barrett on drums.

If you’re longing for the days of early LCD Soundsystem, where James Murphy wouldn’t sing so much as talk/shout over his wonderfully intricate dance-driven beats, then Teenage Sequence is for you. And this reference to LCD is blatant – upon reading up on Teenage Sequence’s rise in the indie music world, you’ll see numerous comparisons of the album’s opening track “All This Art” to LCD’s “Losing My Edge”. Soomary has taken the comparison in stride, so much so that he opens that song in his aforementioned KEXP performance of the song with the line “I’m losing my edge.” It’s less derivative, more a wonderful, immersive continuation of that music you loved 20 years ago.

^{1. I love the rare phenomenon of hearing a musician perform live before hearing any of their recorded music and instantly falling in love with it. There are many many artists I’ve loved more because I saw them live. But hearing someone for the first time in a live setting, being present in the moment with them and truly hearing them enough to connect with them, that’s something special. KEXP live performances allow you to do that from the comfort of your personal space.↩}

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#28 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Slowdive

January 04, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

everything is alive by Slowdive

The dream of the 90s is alive here at #28 on the Bacon Review. Slowdive are an English band that formed in 1989 and released a couple of fantastic shoegaze albums before imploding after the release of their third album in 1995. 19 years later, they reformed, toured around the globe, wrote and eventually released their fourth album in 2017. And now, with the release of everything is alive, they’re back to their original glory, proving they know better than anyone else what shoegaze is all about.

The five piece started working on the album just as the pandemic hit in March 2020, and were forced to put things on hold during the lockdown. The band suffered greatly during the early months of the pandemic, with two members losing parents to COVID-related illness. The music shifted throughout that time, effectively turning into an escape for the band to weather the storm. After many emotional ups and downs, the album finally saw release on September 1st to much critical acclaim.

When you’re looking for music that can survive while played in the background, adding to rather than getting lost in what is happening in the foreground, then Slowdive is where you should turn. everything is alive is well worth listening to, and if you’re not familiar with the shoegaze label, it’s as great a spot to start as any.

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#29 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Arlo Parks

January 03, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

My Soft Machine by Arlo Parks

Breaking away from the parade of old white dudes we saw at #30 and #31, here comes Arlo Parks with her sophomore record, My Soft Machine. “Soft” is the optimum word here – there’s no denying Parks’ songwriting prowess, but the end result often paints a rose-tinted, soft-focused soundscape of pop.

Parks (whose real name is Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho) saw her debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, land at #14 two years ago. Machine picks up where that stellar, Mercury-prize winning album left off, and Parks shows that she’s grown in the interim. A little more edge, a little more bite, and even closer to what I’ve liked from similar artists, like Japanese Breakfast.

If you liked Arlo Parks’ previous album, you’ll like this one, too. You can check it out on the playlists below.

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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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#31 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Jacknife Lee, Budgie & Lol Tolhurst

January 01, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Fifteen years! That’s how long I’ve been tracking my Top 31 albums by year. 15 years honestly doesn’t feel that long. When I started examining, categorizing, and logging what had formed my listening habits across the previous 12 months, I was 35 years years young. By the time I’m done reviewing the albums that shaped my 2023, I’ll be 50.

The little imposter syndrome voice in the back of my head says opinions on current music from a 50-year-old are less relevant now than they would have been 15 years ago. But I also know that the Bacon Review audience is special (you’re special!). Most of you have been following the Top 31 for years, your musical tastes growing older alongside my own. I do strive to push my own listening boundaries ever outward, and I am able to bring my fifty years of listening experience to more easily see the differences and similarities I hear in new music. Having an ever-expanding library of reference points is key to the enjoyment of new music here at The Bacon Review.

The music of 2023 continued its march into new and uncharted territory. But as you’ll see as the Top 31 unfolds, new music by past Top 31 bands proved to be the mainstay in my speakers. A quick count on the expected 2023 Top 31 has only 11 or 12 new-to-the-Bacon Review artists. That’s just under half of the new albums that will be featured over the next month. It feels like an imbalance to me, but I haven’t done a comparison to past Top 31s – maybe they’ve all been like that, or maybe there’s been a natural slow decline in new artists featured as the Top 31 gets older and the list of featured artists grows longer. There’s probably some mathematic principle that refers to the decline of new elements introduced to an annually-recurring list phenomenon. If you know what that phenomenon is called, please let me know.

Let’s get on with it, shall we?

Los Angeles by Jacknife Lee, Budgie & Lol Tolhurst

We’ll be starting the 2023 Top 31 off with an album from a handful of names you likely don’t recognize, but whose instrumentation you most definitely have heard before. Garret “Jacknife” Lee is an electronic artist who has been producing albums for U2, Bloc Party, Crystal Castles, The Editors, and even R.E.M.’s final studio album, Collapse Into Now (#30 in 2010). Peter Clarke, aka “Budgie,” is best known as the drummer for Siouxsie & the Banshees. And finally, Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst was the founding drummer for The Cure (he was asked to leave after Disintegration due to increasing complications from his alcoholism). Kevin Haskins, the drummer for Bauhaus, was originally in the project but had to bail early for a Bauhaus reunion tour, forever robbing the resulting album of ever achieving its full gothic glory.

Tolhurst and Budgie met while touring with Siouxsie and The Cure way back in 1979, and Los Angeles marks the first official songs they’ve created together as well as being their each of their solo debuts. Lee got involved in production on the album when Haskins left the project and the remaining drummers were feeling their work was too steeped in their gothic past. Starting anew in 2019, the trio wrote a suite of distinctly non-gothic instrumental tracks as the foundation for their budding album. The “band” was still trying to sort out what the songs would be when the pandemic hit in March 2020.

A couple of the tracks ended up in the hands of James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem), who agreed to write lyrics and sing on the album. From there, the trio brought in a number of big names: the Edge (U2 guitarist), Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream’s singer), and Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse’s singer). Joe Talbot from Idles was even going to appear on the album, but had to back out due to conflicting schedules. The resulting Los Angeles album feels a bit scattered in places, given the distinct vocal stylings of the singers who ended up performing on the record. But if you love Murphy, Gillespie, or Brock, I highly recommend checking out the album.

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#1 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — SAULT

January 31, 2023 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Air, 11, AIIR, X (Angel) EP, Earth, Today & Tomorrow, and Untitled (God) by SAULT

Yes, my #1 album of 2022 is actually six albums and an EP. It’s my Top 31 and I do what I want. But also, if you heard any or all of these albums, you’d understand why I can’t pick just one¹.

SAULT are an enigma. They are a musical collective, made up of an unknown number of people, led by who smart people are 99% sure is producer Dean Josiah Cover, professionally known as Inflo, most famous for working with Bacon Review alum Michael Kiwanuka (#10 in 2019) and British rapper Little Simz². Nobody in the band has given an interview, presented a photo of themselves as part of SAULT, or created a single music video. They are nowhere, the anti-Beyoncé, an R&B, hip hop, house, and disco-fueled puzzle, and these 6.5 albums collectively represent the best the music industry had to offer in 2022.

Between 2019 and prior to 2022, SAULT had released five albums. (Their first two albums, 5 and 7 were jointly #7 in 2019. Their third and fourth albums, Untitled (Black Is) and Untitled (Rise) were jointly #5 in 2020. NINE was #26 in 2021, and if you recall, this album was only available for download / streaming for 99 days, and it is now frustratingly unavailable everywhere.) In April of 2022, the collective surprised the world by releasing a modern classical album, devoid of any vocals, called Air. On October 10, they put out an EP called _X_ that had a lone, 10-minute track on it. And then, on October 31, they posted this on Twitter and Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SAULT (@saultglobal)

The next day, they provided a link to a password-protected WeTransfer page that allowed anyone who accessed it a free, high-quality download of five brand new albums, a total of 3 hours and 40 minutes of bliss.

I haven’t loved everything SAULT has created. Air, their all-orchestral classical album from early in 2022, was so jarring and out of left field, I couldn’t ever connect to it. But when they released “Angel,” the lone, 10-minute song on the _X_ EP, (and featured in the audio YouTube link above), I’d found a new obsession. It is their best track, period. It has three parts to it, starts off in reggae, leads through a gospel choral arrangement, and ends in a gentle acoustic realm. It is pure magic.

The five albums released on November 1 are strewn with fantastic, genre-spanning music. My favorites are “Morning Sun” and “Together” from 11; “The Return” and “Above the Sky” from Today & Tomorrow; “The Lords With Me” and “God Is In Control” from Earth; the disco-tinged “Faith” from Untitled (God). They did claim these five albums were “an offering to god,” and yes there’s a lot of theology within, but music is my church of choice, and this is the most eclectic religion you’ll ever encounter.

SAULT’s mystery may soon be vanquished. On November 19, the collective posted to their Twitter and Instagram, asking “If we were to do a live show…………which songs would you want to hear?” Nothing more has come of the posts, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see SAULT show up on a festival lineup sometime this summer. Nobody has any idea what they’ll do on stage. Maybe they’ll pull a Daft Punk and hide their faces. Or maybe they’ll put up a scrim and perform behind it, broadcasting cartoon versions of themselves onto it, a la Gorillaz. Or maybe they’ll be the next holographic Tupac. I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to find out.

SAULT’s full repertoire isn’t for everyone — I’d even make the case that the entirety of it is most definitely not for anyone. But there is something in here for each of us to love. The amount of music they produced in 2022 alone, and the musical span of what they released, is unmatched by any other artists. Seek out what you can, and then join me in the scavenger hunt for the rest. Who the hell knows where they’re going next.

^{1. Additionally, it’s become common practice around these parts to award an artist for every album they put out, collectively, that year.↩}
^{2. Little Simz released another Inflo-produced album, her third, titled No Thank You, on December 19, 2022. With Inflo the main person in SAULT, and Little Simz having appeared numerous times in across their albums (including the wonderful “Free” on Untitled (God)), I considered including that album as part of this #1 parade. ↩}

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2. RENAISSANCE by Beyoncé
3. This Is a Photograph by Kevin Morby
4. Lucifer On the Sofa by Spoon
5. Palomino by First Aid Kit
6. We've Been Going About This All Wrong by Sharon Van Etten
7. SOS by SZA
8. Wet Leg by Wet Leg
9. Chloë and the Next 20th Century by Father John Misty
10. Big Time by Angel Olsen
11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs

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#2 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Beyoncé

January 30, 2023 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

RENAISSANCE by Beyoncé

There are megastar pop stars, and then there is Beyoncé. Of the pile of the musicians you could claim are “on top of the world,” from Kendrick Lamar to Taylor Swift, Queen Bey is standing atop that pile with her flag firmly planted. She has won 28 Grammys from 88 nominations across her 25 year career, making her the most honored singer ever (across both of the outdated male and female categories). As a solo artist and as part of the groundbreaking Destiny’s Child, her albums have sold a combined 260,000,000 times worldwide. That is nearly enough sales so that every American, from your 100-year-old grandma to that newborn who was just born yesterday, could have their own Beyoncé record.

She’s achieved this level of fame and glory not by following the path of those who came before — Madonna, Janet Jackson — but rather, defining the path for those to follow. Beyond her pace-setting music, she is a vocal advocate for Black Lives Matter, going so far as to appear at the 2016 Super Bowl halftime show with back up dancers dressed up as Black Panther Party representatives. She has put her excessive cultural weight behind other groups as well, such as when she spoke out against those (including our 45th president) who would remove the rights of transgender youth throughout public schools.

RENAISSANCE, her seventh — and best — album, marries all of the above into a tour de force unlike no other. Simultaneously a “dazzling tribute to underground and under-appreciated Black culture” and “the sound of a once-in-a-generation superstar performing at her peak” (according to critics Kate Solomon from i and Vernon Ayiku from Exclaim! respectively), RENAISSANCE is the strong dose of dance-infused medicine our Covid-19 stricken society needed. This isn’t Lemonade part 2 (#6 in 2016) – there are no genre-hopping scorned lovers on this record. As Julianne Escobedo Shepherd from Pitchfork said:

“Renaissance is inherently about bodies undulating in the dark, under strobes; sexual agency; and the Black queer and trans women who are both politicized and the most endangered people among us.”

Despite oozing sex appeal throughout her career, this album is Beyoncé at her most carnal. Shepherd goes on to say “Beyoncé has never been this horny in public,” and I concur. Nor has Beyoncé ever been this vulgar. I have a staunch “no clean versions” policy in the music I listen to. My children have grown up in a house that revels in all language, from Macklemore to Run the Jewels to Lizzo. But all those are tame when placed next to RENAISSANCE, to the point that I gave pause a couple times when putting the album on. The album opens with a quickly repeated “Please, motherfuckers ain’t stopping mе.” “Might I suggest you don’t fuck with my sis” is heard prominently shortly thereafter. “We getting fucked up tonight. We gon’ fuck up the night” is the repeated chorus just a couple songs later. And we’ve only made it four songs into the 16-song, hour-long set. It’s gloriously raunchy.

At its heart, this is a dance album from the drop. Songs blend from one to the next, as if a DJ was eloquently spinning one hit after another together at the best dance night you’ve ever been to. But these aren’t existing songs — these are expertly assembled, sampled, historically-, culturally-, and musically-significant artists pulled together to represent a whole that is a million times greater than its individual parts. Grace Jones next to Skrillex, trans black television personality Ts Madison up against Right Said Fred — the whole album is a true marvel. What sounds like a glorified Girl Talk album on paper is something completely different. Just listen to “CUFF IT” blend into “ENERGY” and then bleed into the album’s first single, “BREAK MY SOUL”¹. Be sure to check out the video above — Beyoncé’s team pulled it together for when RENAISSANCE was certified platinum. The video is a quick-cut collection of TikTok and other fan-made videos of people of all shapes and sizes, genders and sexuality dancing to “BREAK MY SOUL,” and it’s so damn empowering, you’ll find yourself fighting back happy tears.

RENAISSANCE is a phenomenal record. If you’ve not heard it yet, I command you to do so. Nobody can deny the greatness of it. It’ll be surprising to my wife (and potentially others) that it’s not my #1 album this year, given how much we played it in our house. Any artist able to beat Queen Bey this year had to go to extraordinary lengths, and indeed, the artist at #1 did. You’ll read exactly how tomorrow. For now, put RENAISSANCE on repeat, crank the volume, and I’ll see you tomorrow, sweaty and exhausted.

^{1. This is the first downfall I’ve seen when it comes to YouTube Music – each of these three videos has a disclaimer at the beginning regarding the dangers of flashing lights for some people. It’s a few-seconds pause at the beginning of the song, thereby preventing the listener from going seamlessly between the tracks of this album. This is a fairly significant downside, given how this album is meant to be heard as one can’t stop, won’t stop, non-stop beat.↩}

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3. This Is a Photograph by Kevin Morby
4. Lucifer On the Sofa by Spoon
5. Palomino by First Aid Kit
6. We've Been Going About This All Wrong by Sharon Van Etten
7. SOS by SZA
8. Wet Leg by Wet Leg
9. Chloë and the Next 20th Century by Father John Misty
10. Big Time by Angel Olsen
11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs

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#3 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Kevin Morby

January 29, 2023 by Royal Stuart

This Is a Photograph by Kevin Morby

I’ve had an unconscious aversion to Kevin Morby throughout his career. Despite him having released, over the past 23 years, seven studio albums under his own name, and an additional five as a member of two other bands (The Babies and Woods, the latter of which appeared on the Top 31 after Morby’s departure, at #31 in 2014), this is the first time Kevin Morby has appeared on the Top 31, ever. And what an appearance he’s made.

The album taking Morby from zero to hero¹ is the astoundingly good This is a Photograph. Starting off with the best song on the album, the title song is one that’s sure to get any listener up out of there seat. What starts off slow, just Morby and his guitar, singing about a photograph he found of his dad with his shirt off, holding Morby as a newborn and Morby’s sister at their side, standing in their front yard beneath the West Texas sun. In the photo, Morby’s dad is the age that the younger Morby is today, and he vocalizes what he imagines his dad is thinking the moment the photo is taken, “This is what I’ll miss after I’ll die, and this is what I’ll miss about being alive: my body, my girls, my boy, the sun.”

It‘s an existential, midlife crisis-like reflection. Morby sounds like he’s questioning his own place in the world. The song builds on that same refrain, talking about the concept of time giving up, then about his mother in Kentucky, then even about himself in Tennessee, ready to take the world on, but still thinking of the things we’ll all miss after we die, the things we’ll miss about being alive. It moves you deeply and gets you to move, deeply.

Once it hits that plateau, the rest of the album just coasts there across the top. Through The War on Drugs-esque songs like “A Random Act of Kindness,” slowing down for “Bittersweet, TN,” a gorgeous country duet with folk pop singer Erin Rae, over to somewhat silly rockers like “Rockbottom” (with a video starring the great Tim Heidecker no less). It’s got a little something for everyone.

Morby didn’t really hit my radar until the pandemic started in 2020. I wrote about he and his partner Katie Crutchfield (the one and only Waxahatchee) in my review of her #1 album, Saint Cloud:

A week before the release of the album (on March 27, 2020), just as the lockdown was beginning, she and her boyfriend Kevin Morby … began hosting weekly Thursday-night Instagram livestreams, where they performed both Waxahatchee and Kevin Morby originals and numerous covers, and had guest stars dial in, such as Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes and Crutchfield’s musical twin sister, Allison. They produced a Tiny Desk Concert From Home for NPR, and Waxahatchee was the headliner for the virtual KEXPY Awards from KEXP this past December. These were poor substitutes for an in-person live performance, but having her hold our virtual hands through the darkness that was 2020 was so much better than having nothing at all.

I fell in love with Crutchfield’s music despite of, or maybe because of, the pandemic lockdown, but I wasn’t yet convinced that Kevin Morby was for me. His sixth album, Sundowner, came out later that same year. I listened to it maybe twice. And earlier this year, the world seemed to be conspiring against me getting into Photograph, too. The album came out on May 13, 2022, the same day as Kendrick Lamar (#16)and The Smile (#15), and just a week after Sharon Van Etten (#6). That’s a crazy week for music, a lot of big name, repeat Top 31 performers. And it didn’t take me long to declare Photograph the best of all of those. A day after the full album was released, I put out a photo on social media showing all of those albums ganged up, declaring “Don’t miss out on [Kevin Morby]. It is the best one of all.” Such was the power of this album.

I got to see Morby perform at the Showbox in November, and of course he started the set with “This is a Photograph” — the song is one of the best opening tracks ever. In addition to playing all of the songs I wanted to hear from the album (including “Stop Before I Cry,” his paean to Crutchfield), he played a few songs from his vast back catalog, songs I didn’t know by heart. And I loved them, too. “City Music,” from his 2017 fourth album of the same name, was my favorite of the bunch. Hearing it again just now, I can confidently say that Morby’s music hasn’t really changed in a way that finally landed in a spot for me to like it, but rather it is I who have changed, finally ready to hear everything Morby has to offer. Over this year, I’ll be diving into his past albums (and the lovely soundtrack to the film “Montana Story” that he just put out last week). Join me on this venture, won’t you?

^{1. That’s not quite fair of me to say. I’ve only barely listened to Morby’s past work.↩}

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4. Lucifer On the Sofa by Spoon
5. Palomino by First Aid Kit
6. We've Been Going About This All Wrong by Sharon Van Etten
7. SOS by SZA
8. Wet Leg by Wet Leg
9. Chloë and the Next 20th Century by Father John Misty
10. Big Time by Angel Olsen
11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs

There are many ways to listen to the 2022 Bacon Top 31. Subscribe now and enjoy the new albums / songs as they are revealed on the countdown!

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A single song selection pulled from each album.

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#4 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Spoon

January 28, 2023 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Lucifer On the Sofa by Spoon

After 30 years as a band, I can finally say Spoon is a Rock N’ Roll band with a capital N’. With nine albums of decidedly great indie rock under their belt, much of it classified as lowercase rock n’ roll, Spoon decided to crank their volume to 11 on Lucifer On the Sofa. Hit play on “Wild” above — listen to that heavy beat, those guitars and keyboards. You can just picture a dude in too-tight jeans strutting around a stage, playfully fondling a mic stand while twirling around the mic at the end of its tether. After that, put on “The Hardest Cut,” (fair warning: this is a rather disturbing music video — proceed with caution or just hit play and move the window off screen) and you can hear the band turning all the knobs to the right, giving the listener a visceral, guttural response that makes you bite your lower lip and thrust your hips.

Spoon, from Austin, Texas, have had two consistent members in their three decades: drummer Jim Eno, and principle songwriter and lead singer Britt Daniel. There have been 11 other guys that have slotted between those two in that span. The current lineup features keyboardist Alex Fischer (who was featured on their 2017 album Hot Thoughts — #7 in 2017), Gerardo Larios on backing guitar and vocals (joined in 2019), and Ben Trokan on bass, who only joined in 2021. It’s odd to think the band that recorded They Want My Soul back in 2014 (#3 that year) is out aside from Britt and Jim. It’s even more amazing when you consider how consistent the band has been in their 30 years. From their stellar debut, Telephono, in 1996 to now, every single one of Spoon’s album has been top notch.

So it’s all the more surprising to hear the band throw off the “indie” part of their sound and go full-on rawk. To commemorate their ascent to the top of Mt. Rock N’ Roll (not really, but go with me here), and prior to the release of Lucifer, the band released two Tom Petty covers they recorded in studio: “Breakdown” and “A Face in the Crowd.” Alex and Jim were masked up behind Britt because this was the height of the pandemic. Britt’s voice does some serious cracking, probably because he hasn’t been on a stage for a few years by this point. They also released a Bowie cover, “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” from Blackstar (#20 in 2016), to mark what would have been his 76th birthday in early January 2023.

All in all, Lucifer took most of the five years between it and Hot Thoughts to write and record. The band entered the pandemic in early 2020 with what they thought was a nearly completed album. And then Covid-19 changed things, as it did for everyone. Thankfully for us, it all changed for the even better. Check out the track “My Babe” for some less rocking, more traditional Spoon fare.

The band recorded some commentary for the three single they’ve released from the album: “My Babe behind the song,” “The Hardest Cut behind the song,” and “Wild behind the song.” All three videos show the trio – Britt, Jim, and Alex, giving us some insight into how the songs and the album came about. On top of that, the band collaborated with hit dub music producer Adrian Sherwood to release a track-by-track “reconstruction” of the album, called Lucifer on the Moon. And they released one video, for “On the Radio (Adrian Sherwood Reconstruction)” (funny enough).

In my review of Hot Thoughts in 2017, I started it by saying “Consistently good.” I might now add another adverb at the front of that statement, “Crazily, consistently good.” It truly is a wonder. Daniel and Eno (no relation to Brian or Roger) have proven themselves as master songwriters and performers. This past summer, the band went out with Interpol (#21 in 2014) on a double-headliner tour, and I got to see them play the Paramount here in Seattle. Unsure if it was like this at every stop, but in Seattle, Spoon opened for Interpol. It was a sweaty, bouncy, rocking affair — I exhausted my aging body and lost my voice, all before Interpol came on stage. And when they did, I nearly fell asleep. It was truly Interpol’s “night” to Spoon’s “day.” If you are a popular band, and are asked to co-headline a tour with Spoon, I think you should turn down the offer. You will not able to match the brilliance that is a Spoon show. On top of that, you‘d be hard-pressed to find any band who has been as good as Spoon has for so long. Pick up Lucifer, or any of their albums, and judge for yourself.

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5. Palomino by First Aid Kit
6. We've Been Going About This All Wrong by Sharon Van Etten
7. SOS by SZA
8. Wet Leg by Wet Leg
9. Chloë and the Next 20th Century by Father John Misty
10. Big Time by Angel Olsen
11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs

There are many ways to listen to the 2022 Bacon Top 31. Subscribe now and enjoy the new albums / songs as they are revealed on the countdown!

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Radio Station
A single song selection pulled from each album.

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#5 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — First Aid Kit

January 27, 2023 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Palomino by First Aid Kit

With three albums scattered across the last 12 years (Lion’s Roar at #4 in 2012, Stay Gold at #16 in 2014, and Ruins at #10 in 2018, and now their fantastic Palomino here at #5, First Aid Kit match Sharon Van Etten yesterday at four albums each that have appeared on the Top 31. And like Van Etten, they are also the exception that proves the rule of this site having been male-band-centric for far too long. Unlike Van Etten, I’ve managed to hear and include every album First Aid Kit have released.

As my appreciation of non-white-male artists has matured, so has First Aid Kit. Johanna and Klara Söderberg, Swedish sisters, have been performing together as First Aid Kit since 2007. The 15 years have been good to the sisters and their sound – what was already really good has transcended into something else entirely: another level, another decade. Palomino wouldn’t be out of place on a mix of 70s female-led classic rock, a la Fleetwood Mac and Heart. They’ve brought in a new backing band, Swedish brothers Johannes and Gabriel Runemark on drums and guitar, and Freja Drakenberg (“Freja the Dragon” – how can you no wrong with that nickname?) on keyboards. That backing band, combined with the Söderberg sister’s penchant for perfect harmonies and choruses you want to sing at the top of your lungs, First Aid Kit have reinvented rock n’ roll for the 2020s.

The band has put out a handful of videos to accompany the singles released from the album. In addition to the upbeat and rocking “Out of my Head” featured above, you can watch “A Feeling That Never Came,” “Palomino,” “Turning Onto You,” and “Angel.” That last one is probably my second favorite track on the album. When they hit the bridge, which in First Aid Kit fashion tends to be a nearly a cappella chorus, and Klara’s voice cracks — heart melting. The LP is full of hidden little gems like that.

In May, we get to enjoy First Aid Kit live on stage. It’ll be only the 2nd time I’m seen them. Back in 2012 the sisters came through town and played the Crocodile. This time around, they’re playing the 3,000+ capacity Paramount. Hearing their voices fill the cavernous room will be divine. Listen to the album, then pick yourself up a ticket (or, better yet, hit me up and I can help you get Club tickets). I hope to see you there.

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6. We've Been Going About This All Wrong by Sharon Van Etten
7. SOS by SZA
8. Wet Leg by Wet Leg
9. Chloë and the Next 20th Century by Father John Misty
10. Big Time by Angel Olsen
11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs

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

January 26, 2023 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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7. SOS by SZA
8. Wet Leg by Wet Leg
9. Chloë and the Next 20th Century by Father John Misty
10. Big Time by Angel Olsen
11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs

There are many ways to listen to the 2022 Bacon Top 31. Subscribe now and enjoy the new albums / songs as they are revealed on the countdown!

Full Album
All albums in their entirety.

Radio Station
A single song selection pulled from each album.

View all previous Bacon Top 31s

#7 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — SZA

January 25, 2023 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

SOS by SZA

You won’t find the amazing album at #7 on my list on any other Top Albums of 2022 lists, but not because you’ve not heard of it. It’s because it came out on December 9, right when all the prominent music magazines and blogs were already publishing their best-of lists. This album likely won’t appear on any of those lists at the end of 2023, either, because it would be strange to feature an album that came out in 2022 in a Best of 2023 list. It took me a few years of compiling my own Top 31 lists to figure it out: if your album comes out in December, or really even in November, it will be hard or impossible to rank it in any meaningful way. So compilers of lists are left with either making a wild assumption (“I’ve heard this album for a day, it’s definitely better than X number of albums already considered the best this year”), a flat out guess (“Two songs have been released from this album that is supposed to come out in the next week. It will be better than these X albums”), or simply not listing them at all. That’s the only option for any reputable publication.

Or you can do what I do: wait until the year is, you know, complete before ranking the albums from the full year. Or maybe just call your list “The Top 50 albums from the first 11 months of 2022.” Delaying like I do is still not perfect — an artist releases an album on December 30, chances are I’m not going to hear it or be able to include it in my Top 31. I’m not sure what drove the decision to release the long-awaited SZA album on December 9, but I have to believe it was a calculated business decision. So much business is wrapped up in a SZA release, there are lots of players, weighing lots of options, and I suppose making it onto the Best Of lists is not how the money is made. I just checked, and this album has been #1 on the Billboard charts (meaning it has sold more than any other album) for the last five weeks (that’s the last 2 weeks of December, and the first 3 of 2023).

So, clearly people are finding SOS, SZA’s 2nd full-length album, and first since her 2017 debut, Ctrl, despite it not appearing on any end-of-year lists. But at least it’s appearing on my list. I can feel confident in the exceedingly modest number of streams I’ll have been personally responsible for for the megastar. At just over an hour long, this album is jam packed with 23 amazing songs spread across numerous genres, from R&B to hip hop, pop to grunge. Rather than feeling like the work of a single artist, it plays more like a really good Top 40 yet commercial-free radio station, cycling through the hits of the day¹.

SZA, whose full name is Solána Imani Rowe, was born in St. Louis. Despite having only two full length records to her name, she is an international pop sensation who has been making popular music for the last 10+ years. She connected early with the likes of Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar, and while I’m confident her songwriting prowess and phenomenal voice would have propelled her to stardom eventually, having the door opened by those two can‘t hurt. My first taste of SZA came on the Black Panther soundtrack (#21 in 2018). The duet she sings with Lamar, “All My Stars,” is the best song on that album, in no small part because of the powerful chorus led by SZA. I didn’t listen to Ctrl, although I wish I had.

The best comparison I can make for this SZA release is to Frank Ocean’s Blonde (#4 in 2016). Like SOS, Blonde bounces all over the place, has strange digital artifacts thrown in throughout, and is a fantastic hip hop / R&B-based album. If you loved that album like I do, you will love SOS like I do.

Rumors and announcements about the release of SOS came out as early as 2019. A mix of pandemic buying patterns, production shifts, and a massive outpouring of talent from SZA herself no doubt slowed up the release all the way to nearly missing 2022 entirely. A few singles had been released well before the album came out. “Good Days,” was the first to be released, in 2020, a great song whose video features SZA as a dancing mushroom² (I’m not sure what business decisions forced the single that preceded this one, the great “Hit Different,” was not included on the SOS release.) The next single, “I Hate U,” came out in December 2021, just over a year prior to the release of the album, and with a video starring LaKeith Stanfield. The official version of her song “Shirt,” was released as a single just over a month prior to the album release. The video stars SZA alongside LaKeith Stanfield, in a bloody shoot-em-up video, a la Quentin Tarantino. On January 6, SZA released the single for my favorite song on the album, “Nobody Gets Me,” which is eerily reminiscent of Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You,” and probably why I like it so much. And finally, SZA released the single for “Kill Bill,” on January 10, 2023. The video is amazing in its ability to recreate key scenes from the pair of movies, recast with SZA in the seminal Uma Thurman role.

My favorite non-single from the album is “Ghost in the Machine,” on which Bacon Review favorite Phoebe Bridgers (#3 in 2020) sings along with SZA. Bridgers and SZA are similar in a couple key aspect: they’re not shy about guest starring on someone else’s song; and they make any song they appear on better. I will (and have) go out of my way to track down “with SZA” or ”…Bridgers” songs, and am continually rewarded for doing so. As long as they keep producing their own songs, I’m all for them spreading the love around.

I’ve written more than enough about this album. If you’re not convinced by now, there’s nothing else I can say that will sway you. Listen to this album, all 67 minutes of it. You’ll see.

^{1. There is exactly one song I cannot stand on the album. I’m such a dedicated fan of the form, I don’t usually single out any one song and say “this is not for me, I’m skipping it.” The song in question is the lone rock pop song, “F2F,” which SZA wrote with Bacon Review favorite Lizzo (#1 in 2019). Check it out for yourself, but you’ve been warned.↩}
^{2. As I write this, we’re two episodes into the great new HBO series The Last of Us, and seeing SZA as a mushroom here gives me entirely different feelings than it would have two weeks ago.↩}

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8. Wet Leg by Wet Leg
9. Chloë and the Next 20th Century by Father John Misty
10. Big Time by Angel Olsen
11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs

There are many ways to listen to the 2022 Bacon Top 31. Subscribe now and enjoy the new albums / songs as they are revealed on the countdown!

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#8 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Wet Leg

January 24, 2023 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Wet Leg by Wet Leg

Some years have its “indie darling,” a new-to-the-scene band who far exceeds its station. The kind of band that gets booked for the smaller stage at the summer festival and when the festival rolls around a few months later the band has acquired an audience overloads area the band is playing in. Idles in 2018 is a prime example. Or the Fleet Foxes in 2008, even. For 2022, that band is Wet Leg, with their self-titled debut album. And oh, what an album it is.

Wet Leg are an indie-rock duo from the Isle of Wight, Great Britain. Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, who met while attending the island’s Platform One College of Music, have been performing together as Wet Leg since 2019. Their album bounces seamlessly between different sub-genres of indie pop, from slacker rock (“Angelica”) to surf rock (“Wet Dream” and “Ur Mum”) to glam rock (“Oh No”) and punk pop (“Too Late Now”), with their post-punk anthem “Chaise Longue” the best of the bunch (featured in the video above).

I got to see Wet Leg at THING, the annual PNW music festival held at Fort Warden in Port Townsend, in the middle of the first day with an amped up, crammed in crowd. They duo have a full backing band providing the rhythm section to the antics of the two charismatic leads. It must be fun to be in your first year of existence and already have the audience shout-singing your lyrics back at you. It sure is fun for the audience.

Wet Leg have started something big. Well crafted pop rock is a fine place for any band to make their start — it’ll be interesting to see how they continue to pique our collective interest. For now, I’ll continue to enjoy Wet Leg, the album. And I know you will, too.

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9. Chloë and the Next 20th Century by Father John Misty
10. Big Time by Angel Olsen
11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs

There are many ways to listen to the 2022 Bacon Top 31. Subscribe now and enjoy the new albums / songs as they are revealed on the countdown!

Full Album
All albums in their entirety.

Radio Station
A single song selection pulled from each album.

View all previous Bacon Top 31s

#9 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Father John Misty

January 23, 2023 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Chloë and the Next 20th Century by Father John Misty

Josh Tillman is back on track. I suppose it’s hard to say he was ever off track, as all four of his Father John Misty albums have appeared on the Top 31 (#14 in 2012, #6 in 2015, #15 in 2017, and #26 in 2019). But as you can see in that string of great albums, the quality of his output and his placement in the Top 31 had been declining since his high point, I Love You, Honeybear, in 2015. I’m happy to report that Chloë and the Next 20th Century, Tillman’s fifth album as Father John Misty, is as good if not better than Honeybear.

This album has Tillman’s FJM crooner firing on all cylinders. Backed by full orchestration, including horns and strings, he takes us to an era that predates indie rock, and really any kind of rock, back to the 50s, Chet Baker bid band era. This is exactly where Father John Misty should have been all along.

I had the immense pleasure of seeing FJM at THING, the annual Pacific Northwest music festival held at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, WA. There were a lot of high points at the festival, but FJM was the highest. He played on the medium-sized stage on the first night. Unlike most festival acts, he had risers and props that made his stage presence match the lounge-act songs he was going to perform. He must have had ten or so guys on stage with him, horns and keyboards and a stand-up bass. And he moved eloquently about the stage between and around the other players, playfully eyeing the crowd and engaging in humorous banter.

Up to that point, I hadn’t loved Chloë. I can safely say because of that performance, my opinion of the album changed for the positive. My wife claims this album to be boring and sleepy, to which I retort “You didn’t see him live at Thing.” The influence a live performance can have on the listener’s opinions – both positive and negative – is a real phenomenon, and my love of FJM is testament to that experience.

Per usual, Tillman loves the visual side of music. Take a look at the above video, for the more upbeat song “Goodbye Mr. Blue.” Other Chloë songs that have been made into videos include:

“Kiss Me (I Loved You)”
“Buddy’s Rendezvous,” along with a non-album version of the same song sung by Lana Del Ray
“Q4” as the credits to a fictional movie from the 50s of the same name
“Funny Girl”

If you’ve liked FJM in the past, now is not the time to pull away. Tillman has brought us back into the fold with Chloë, and I hope he finds a way to keep us there long term.

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10. Big Time by Angel Olsen
11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs

There are many ways to listen to the 2022 Bacon Top 31. Subscribe now and enjoy the new albums / songs as they are revealed on the countdown!

Full Album
All albums in their entirety.

Radio Station
A single song selection pulled from each album.

View all previous Bacon Top 31s