I probably listened to less new music this year than I ever have before. I'm going to try to remedy that some in 2018. But this is one I've been digging a lot. This version is kind of crazy... I mean, there's a tuba. But the song proper is awesome.
(7 votes, average: 8.14 out of 10)
Loading... I'm a fan of Baker's whole new album, but I chose this song because midway through it sounds to me like there's a little tip of the hat to Joni Mitchell's "River," which I nominated for this year's WGOMXMASMIX. Please listen and tell me if you hear it too!
(2 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)Loading... Sometimes, you see a band's name and you just know you're going to be really into them. This was absolutely one of those bands. Their self-titled record is very high in my album of the year list, and if you like feedback drenched rock I highly recommend it.
(4 votes, average: 6.25 out of 10)Loading... Runner daughter informs me that she's a big Weezer fan, so I guess that means I'll have to move on now. (btw, she preferred "Feels like Summer")
Some of the others I considered from 2017 (in no order):
I'm just impressed that I'm "relevant" enough to know more than one song that came out this year.
(5 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)Loading... I'm pretty sure that this one is my runaway favorite song of the year. I had the pleasure of seeing them play it live with DK when the band came through town a couple of months ago. The big BOOM right before the breakdown was my favorite part of the show, and is probably my favorite moment in music this year.
Apologies for the late post (and overposting on CH's solid second choice), but...
(6 votes, average: 8.33 out of 10)Loading... Looks like I get a second day...
This song is a tribute to the Tamashek women fighting for freedom in Tinariwen’s homeland, Mali. The band, which has been exiled, recorded the album it appears on in Paris, Morocco, & Joshua Tree (I’m wondering if that was at Josh Homme’s studio). Collaborators on the album included Mark Lanegan, Kurt Vile, & Alain Johannes.
(3 votes, average: 8.67 out of 10)Loading... Recorded live-to-tape with Mariachi América in the Morisco Kiosk of Alameda Park, Santa María la Ribera, Mexico City.
Beautiful interview with the band that explains the live “visual album” thing.
(5 votes, average: 9.20 out of 10)Loading...
Live at the Monterey International Pop Festival
17 June 1967
filmed by D.A. Pennebaker
Fifty years ago today, Otis Redding & the Bar-Kays boarded a plane heading to a one-night-only gig in Madison. It had been a tumultuous autumn at the University of Wisconsin as generations clashed over the Vietnam War, and one can well imagine students & music lovers anticipating the ascendant King of Soul’s visit as a brief moment of respite. The venue, The Factory, was just off State Street, midway between the university & the Capitol. Big O was the headliner with his backing band; opening for them was a Rockford-based group called The Grim Reapers fronted by Rick Nielsen.
Redding had played two shows in Cleveland & appeared on WEWS-TV’s Upbeat the day before, so he & most of the Bar-Kays flew in on his private plane. It was drizzling, foggy, & hovering around freezing in Madison, and Redding’s pilot, just ten months removed from earning his multi-engine license, was from Georgia. A few miles from Truax Field at 3:25 p.m., over Lake Monona, everything went wrong.
Otis was 26. Jimmy King (guitar) was 18, Ronnie Caldwell (organ) would’ve turned 19 in seventeen days, Phalon Jones (sax) was 19, and Carl Cunningham (drums) was 19. Ben Cauley (trumpet) was the only survivor. Also killed were the pilot & Otis’ valet (Matthew Kelly, 17).
Otis Redding & the Bar-Kays (with a special guest) on 09 December 1967:
So much music was left in that voice, those lungs, & those hands.
(8 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10)Loading... Maybe it would make more sense to play this at the end of the month.
(4 votes, average: 7.50 out of 10)Loading... Alright, let's do this. Nibs dropped Lindsey Whalen as a suggestion for the MN Sports Mount Rushmore, and I find myself curious what others would come up with.
The rules are simple: you get 4 people (no less, no more). You can only use athletes who played for Minnesota teams (we'll keep out the Sid Hartmans and Bud Grants), but can include non-athletic factors in your decision (Kent Hrbek now advertises for a local company, Alan Page was a MN Supreme Court Justice!). This is not limited to athletes from Minnesota, though I think most people would agree that being from MN probably helps.
I'm gonna kick it off:
Whalen, KG, Dave Winfield, Mauer
(Wow, this was way tougher than I expected.)
