Tag: The Afghan Whigs

Categories
Albums

Best albums of 2022: Five honourable mentions

This year will mark the sixth time I’ve done one of these end of the year, best album countdowns. Last year, even lacking the energy and the real will to pull it off, I still managed to do a more toned-down, two-part series. This year I wanted to try and do my usual six part effort, even if the word counts for each post don’t get as lofty as usual*. My goal is to share my favourites out of all the great music released this year.

On any other year, this particular post wouldn’t even exist but for some reason, this year, I couldn’t get my list down to just ten albums, no matter how hard I tried. I just had to shout out a handful more. These five are not ranked but instead, listed in alphabetical order by artist name. (Don’t worry, I’ll get back to properly ranking with the next post.)

So you can consider this a taste of things to come and if you haven’t yet given these five albums a spin, hopefully my brief words and the sample Youtube link provided will get you on the right path. Cheers!

The Afghan Whigs “How do you burn”: I’d heard the name but never listened to the alternative band from Cincinnati, even in their first go-round in the 90s. If their intense ninth studio album (third since reuniting in 2011) is any indication, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.
Check out: “A line of shots”

Andy Bell “Flicker”: For his second solo album, the founding member of Ride and former Oasis guitarist went full on double LP and it is full of swirling, ethereal, droning, and [continue to insert dream pop and psych rock adjectives here] beauty.
Check out: “Something like love”

King Hannah “I’m not sorry, I was just being me”: The debut album by this duo hailing from Liverpool, England is moody and atmospheric and cinematic, earning them favourable comparisons to Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, and maybe even Portishead.
Check out: “All being fine”

Dan Mangan “Being somewhere”: The Canadian indie folk troubadour has increased the atmospherics and production trickery on his seventh studio album but hasn’t dispensed with any of quiet but loud passion in the process.
Check out: “In your corner (for Scott Hutchison”

Sharon Van Etten “We’ve been going about this all wrong”: In my books, SVE has been one of the most consistent singer/songwriters on the indie scene in terms of producing excellent work on every outing and her sixth full-length studio might be favourite of the bunch to date.
Check out: “Mistakes”

*And even if I don’t manage to get all the posts in before the end of the year…

I’ll be back very soon with albums #10 through #6 for my Best albums of 2022 list. In the meantime, you can check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

Categories
Playlists

Playlist: New tunes from 2022, part three

If I was still looking at this blog as something that should be scheduled or on schedule or whatever, I might consider this post a couple weeks behind that “s” word. I’ve been trying* to post these quarterly playlist updates a couple of weeks after the end of each quarter but well, the two week vacation I took that spanned the end of August and the beginning of September put me a bit behind.

Yeah. That’s right. I took some vacation. Two weeks! It was the longest period from work that I’d properly taken since before the pandemic. I spent as much of it as I could experiencing nature, sitting by the water, going on hikes, and just generally taking in our province’s natural beauty. It wasn’t exactly restful, per se, but it was definitely good for the soul.

Prior to that, I actually attended several evenings of an honest-to-goodness music festival at the beginning of July. It was an amazing feeling to return to a bit of normalcy, see some bands I’d seen before and some I hadn’t, and seeing people outside of my bubble, all revelling in the ecstasy that is the live music experience. I say again, I t felt great. Then, the day after the festival ended, a friend of mine who I had attended a couple of the dates with texted me to say he had tested positive for COVID. So I tested myself and thankfully came through it clean. But it was definitely a bitter reminder for me that though we may be done with the pandemic, it may not necessarily be done with us.

Otherwise, the summer flew by in a haze and blur of sameness. With all the work, eat, and sleep, I am super thankful of my continued employment, general good health, and that I am continuing to spend my life with my very best friend and love of my life. And of course, there is always the music.

This third part of this annual playlist represents the music that has followed me and kept me going through this third pandemic summer. It is yet another great 25 tunes (for parts one and two, check here and here) representative of the best that’s been released during the last three months. Highlights include:

      • Opening things up with “Rockstar”, this ripping track off the third album by Momma calls to mind 90s rockers, like maybe Babes in Toyland and L7, but most definitely Veruca Salt
      • “Circumference”, a brilliant synth-pop gem by Working Men’s Club ripped right from the heart of the 80s
      • More dream pop beauty from Toronto-based indie pop quartet Tallies, a sweet explosion called “Wound up tight”
      • I’ve not been a fan of Animal Collective, nor Noah Lennox’s solo work as Panda Bear but his recent collaboration with Pete “Sonic Boom” Kember is pure sunshine, “Gettin’ to the point” is just a case in point
      • When I think of Kasabian, I typically think of blistering high energy numbers but this ballad called “The wall” off their latest record is equally full of passion
      • “It’s always the quiet ones” by Suede – that’s right, they’re back and it’s majestic
      • Kristian Mattson, aka The Tallest Man on Earth, covering “Pink rabbits” by The National is like a collision of some of my favourite music from a decade ago
      • Finally, Yeah Yeah Yeahs teamed up with Perfume Genius for “Spitting off the edge of world”, the magnificent first single of their latest album

Here is the entire playlist as I’ve created it:

1. “Rockstar” Momma (from the album Household name)

2. “All comes crashing” Metric (from the album Formentera)

3. “Day 21” Secret Machines (from the EP Day 21)

4. “Fables” Interpol (from the album The other side of make-believe)

5. “Circumference” Working Men’s Club (from the album Fear fear)*

6. “Vanishing point” Julien Baker (from the EP B-sides)

7. “So far for so few” The Sadies (from the album Colder streams)

8. “Eventually” Beach Bunny (from the album Emotional creature)

9. “Wound up tight” Tallies (from the album Patina)

10. “Parasite II” Kiwi Jr. (from the album Chopper)

11. “Gettin’ to the point” Panda Bear & Sonic Boom (from the album Reset)

12. “The wall” Kasabian (from the album The alchemist’s euphoria)

13. “Forever in sunset” Ezra Furman (from the album All of us in flames)

14. “A line of shots” The Afghan Whigs (from the album How do you burn?)

15. “Slowly” Preoccupations (from the album Arrangements)

16. “Roman candles” Death Cab For Cutie (from the album Asphalt meadows)

17. “Expert in a dying field” The Beths (from the album Expert in a dying field)

18. “It’s always the quiet ones” Suede (from the album Autofiction)

19. “Heart attack” Editors (from the album EBM)

20. “Pink rabbits” The Tallest Man On Earth (from the album Too late for edelweiss)

21. “First high” Nikki Lane (from the album Denim & diamonds)

22. “Backup plan” Maya Hawke (from the album Moss)

23. “Friday night” Beth Orton (from the album Weather alive)

24. “Pagan man” Pixies (from the album Doggerel)

25. “Spitting off the edge of the world (ft Perfume Genius)” Yeah Yeah Yeahs (from the album Cool it down)

Those of you who are on the Apple Music train can click here to sample the above tracks as a whole playlist.

And as always, wherever you are in the world, I hope you are safe and continue to be well. Above all, enjoy the tunes.

*Trying might be a strong word here.

If you’re interested in checking out any of the other playlists I’ve created and shared on these pages, you can peruse them here.