Great Magazine Reads: Lenny Kravitz examines his life and I name my 35 favorite LK songs

It’s no wonder that it seems Lenny Kravitz has always been around. His awesome debut album was released a whopping 35 years ago. MOJO Magazine's April issue featured him in "The MOJO Interview." 

Here are the highlights of that interview as well as my 35 favorite LK songs (overwhelmingly populated by tunes from his first two releases).

• Lenny is now 59.
• He grew up in Manhattan and Brooklyn until he was 10 then moved to L.A.
• His dad was a Ukrainian Jew and TV producer while his mom was African-American-Bahamian and known the world over from her role as the neighbor on The Jeffersons.
• Seeing The Jackson 5 at Madison Square Garden at the age of six was transformative.
• When Lenny started his music career, he was known as Romeo Blue (he thought his name was “the most un-rock’n’roll name ever”) before releasing his debut Let Love Rule, an homage to his then-wife Lisa Bonet from The Cosby Show. Their daughter is actor Zoe.
• Actor Cicely Tyson was his mom’s best friend and she was married to Miles Davis, so young Lenny had quite the musical mentor growing up, even though their friendship wasn’t necessarily all about music.
• After Let Love Rule, he wrote “Justify My Love,” which he didn’t feel was quite right for him so he gave it to Madonna.
• On his second album, the perfect Mama Said, Slash rocked the guitar solo on “Always on the Run” and Sean Lennon developed the structure of “All I Ever Wanted.”
• His 12th album, Blue Electric Light, is releasing soon. From the one song I’ve heard, “Human,” it sounds like it could be a fun listen.
• This one and his previous two albums were recorded in the Bahamas. He says he works when inspiration hits him rather than waking up, drinking a coffee, and getting to work. “I wait until I hear something, which can come in a dream, or sitting, or walking around and the Bahamas is great for that.”
• He made what could someday turn into about four albums during the pandemic.
• Kravitz has lots of other hobbies, including his design firm Kravitz Design, which has made the Architectural Digest Top 100 in each of the past three years.

For a solo artist to have 35 songs I like is pretty darn good. There isn't too much of Kravitz's genre-hopping rock that I dislike, although not a lot has drawn mean in over his past 7 or 8 releases. Here are 35 songs that would make a killer compilation in my book:

35. American Woman (5)
34. Johnny Cash (Raise Vibration)
33. I’ll Be Waiting (It’s Time for a Love Revolution)
32. Ride (Raise Vibration)
31. My Love (Are You Gonna Go My Way)
30. My Precious Love (Let Love Rule)
29. Fly Away (5)
28. Can’t Get You Off My Mind (Circus)
27. Sugar (Are You Gonna Go My Way)
26. Rosemary (Let Love Rule)
25. Stand (Black and White America)
24. Stop Draggin’ Around (Mama Said)
23. Butterfly (Mama Said)
22. More Than Anything in This World (Mama Said)
21. Spinning Around Over You (Reality Bites Soundtrack)
20. Blues for Sister Someone (Let Love Rule)
19. What the * Are We Saying (Mama Said)
18. Again (Again)
17. Be (Let Love Rule)
16. Does Anybody Out There Even Care (Let Love Rule)
15. Sittin’ on Top of the World (Let Love Rule)
14. All I Ever Wanted (Mama Said)
13. What Goes Around Comes Around (Mama Said)
12. Are You Gonna Go My Way (Are You Gonna Go My Way)
11. Black Girl (Are You Gonna Go My Way)
10. The Difference is Why (Mama Said)
09. Believe (Are You Gonna Go My Way)
08. Fields of Joy (Mama Said)
07. Flowers for Zoe (Mama Said) 
06. I Build This Garden for Us (Let Love Rule)
05. Always on the Run (Mama Said)
04. Stand by My Woman (Mama Said)
03. Let Love Rule (Let Love Rule)
02. Mr. Cab Driver (Let Love Rule)
01. It Ain’t Over ‘til It’s Over (Mama Said)

Great Magazine Reads: Squeeze aren't The Beatles but they're really good

In 1981, Rolling Stone proclaimed Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook as the next John Lennon and Paul McCartney. That definitely did not happen, but I love at least a dozen of Squeeze's songs and got to see the band's excellent live show when they opened for Hall and Oates in 2001. 

Classic Pop Magazine explores the legacy of Squeeze as the band officially turns 50 this year. Here are some things I learned or found interesting in the article:

• They formed in 1974 "after a 16-year-old Tilbrook answered an advert in a tobacconist’s window for a band into The Kinks, Lou Reed, and Glenn Miller."
• Difford and Tilbrook both grew up in the Blackheath neighborhood east of downtown London.
• John Cage of Velvet Underground was brought in to produce the band's first album, but they say he didn't want to focus on pop songs and so those tunes don't really sound much like Squeeze. They added in "Take Me I'm Yours" at the end after Cage's duties were completed.
• It was proposed that "Elvis Costello, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, and Paul McCartney would all work on what became [1981 album] East Side Story. In the end, the double album plan was scrapped and only Costello would end up working on it."
• Up until 1982, Squeeze was virtually a supergroup of sorts that also included keyboardists Jools Holland and Paul Carrack. Including Difford and Tilbrook, it's estimated there have been 31 different members of Squeeze over the years.
• During one of the two periods that Squeeze had broken up, Difford and Tilbrook created 1984's "Difford and Tillbrook" album that is a bit of a hidden gem.
• The band has two albums planned for release in the next year.

My favorite 12 Squeeze songs ranked:

12. "Take Me I'm Yours"

11. "If I Didn't Love You"

10. "Goodbye Girl"

09. "Annie Get Your Gun"

08. "Cool for Cats"

07. "Hope Fell Down" (Difford and Tilbrook)

06. "Is That Love?"

05. "Tempted"

04. "Black Coffee in Bed"

03. "Up the Junction" 

02. "Another Nail in My Heart"

01. "Pulling Muscles (From the Shell)"

My 94 favorite albums of 2023

Taylor Swift

I may not have as many albums as usual on my "favorites" list of 2023, but that doesn't mean it was a down year. When I see how low some of my consistent favorites rank on the list (Bully, Belle and Sebastian, Yo La Tengo, for some examples), it's testament to how strong the quality of all this music was in 2023. 

94. Smashing Pumpkins: ATUM Act 1 and 2 (this never-ending double album sees the Pumpkins back in fine form for just enough of the time to make my list. A single album would have been pretty good, but it makes some sense that this is a sprawling electro pop prog Billy Corgan whatever)

93. The Hold Steady: The Price of Progress (there is a lot to admire in this fine Minneapolis band; this is another in a long line of albums that all sound kind of the same and don't have standouts - I dare you to put together a greatest-hits collection - but are fun to listen to in small doses)

92. Low Cut Connie: Art Dealers (the Philly rockers offer a lesser album, but there are still enough Steve Perry, A Star is Born, and lower-class Bruce to ensure that it belongs in the record collection)

91. Little Dragon: Slugs of Love (this might be my least favorite album by these prolific Swedish wackos, but it's still enjoyable all the way through)

90. Duff McKagan: Lighthouse (go with this rocker's last release if you want to truly dig into Duff; it was great and this one too is pretty good, especially if you need a shot of Guns N' Roses that the entire band doesn't seem to be cooperating with)

89. The Salt Collective: Life (this is a well-played and very profficient album by a crack band of players, but in the end I really only love a few songs that are collaborations with Matthew Caws of Nada Surf, Juliana Hatfield, Richard Lloyd, and Matthew Sweet)

88. Kurt Vile: Back to Moon Beach (not anywhere near his best, but it’s still a laid-back grower that picks up considerably after a lagging middle)

87. The Sticker Club: Destination Rock and Roll Station (this would be higher on the list if it's taken in small doses, since it's a children's album. That said, it's kid music from Nic Dalton and Alison Galloway of Lemonheads-connection fame)

86. Scott Zosel: Saturday's Child (Minneapolis songwriter takes a sound and style from The Jayhawks, with a pinch of Westerberg/Stinson and Dave Pirner, and creates a short and pleasurable listen)

Lil Yachty

85. A. Savage: Several Songs About Fire (the Parquet Courts leader makes a pleasant mid-tempo album that never fully takes off, but I like his soothing Evan Dando voice)

84. Katie von Schleicher: A Little Touch of Schleicher in the Night (this Brooklyn artist has created a real grower of a mellow, symphonic, and poppy debut)

83. Janelle Monáe: The Age of Pleasure (this is a really upbeat listen all the way through with reggae and Caribbean sounds sprinkled liberally throughout)

82. Alaska Reid: Disenchanter (good late-night vibe music somewhere like if Olivia Rodrigo mashed up with Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

81. Blur: The Ballad of Darren (I've never been a big member of the Blur cult, but this album is really good, especially my favorite song from the band ever, "Barbaric")

80. Fucked Up: One Day (when I'm in the mood to get screamed at, which admittedly isn't as often as when I was younger, this has become my go-to band, and they may be equally at their most melodic here as well)

79. Willie Nelson: I Don't Know a Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard (one can never forget a Willie album - or two - in the annual list; man is still on a tear)

78. Royel Otis: Sofa Kings (these Aussie indie popsters had a mess of singles as well as this EP/LP or something in between; check out the single "Fried Rice" - an ode to bad habits - to instantly fall in love)

77. R. Ring: War Poems, We Rested (Kelley Deal's latest project works as Breeders-like and as well as one would guess)

76. White Reaper: Asking for a Ride (Louisville band brings a lot of fun back into the long-missing genre of emo punk-pop; it's a grower)

75. Bennett Wilson Poole: I Saw a Star Behind Your Eyes, Don't Let It Die Away (this catchy pop collection borrows heavily from the sounds of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, with even some Beatles, Byrds, and Who sprinkled in; clearly a lot for rock fans to like here)

74. Kris Ulrich: Big in the USA (this somewhat mysterious Canadian has a handful of beautiful storytelling songs kicking off an album that tails off quite a bit in the second half)

73. Dengue Fever: Ting Mong (Cambodian psych pop via Los Angeles and world weary, wonderful, and weird)

72. The Nude Party: Rides On (these North Carolina post-poppers descend from the likes of Lou Reed, Violent Femmes, and Luna, which pretty much guarantees their likability)

71. Fust: Genevieve (Southern Californians who are making some fine psych folk)

70. Wednesday: Rat Saw God (an Asheville band whose album starts slow but then rounds into fine Kinks-like form; bonus points for putting on a fine show opening for Guided by Voices in Dayton over Labor Day weekend)

69. Video Age: Away from the Castle (said to be influenced by the likes of Paul McCartney and Janet Jackson - an odd combo - these New Orleans poppers lean more Phoenix for me. "Better Than Ever" is one of my favorite tracks of the year)

68. Generationals: Heatherhead (another New Orleans band, this Phoenix-like dance pop is produced by a band that I've liked quite a bit for a long while; you might too) 

67. Albert Hammond, Jr.: Melodies on Hiatus (this is one of the Strokes' lead guitarist's lesser releases, but it's still pretty darn catchy and, hey, Strokes-tangent is still Strokes-tangent)

66. Deer Tick: Emotional Contracts (great rowdy alt-country, from Rhode Island's finest, to throw on and dance and drink to; another release in the group's growing excellent discography)

65. Yo La Tengo: This Stupid World (this is a good release to throw on in the background because of its cinematic-prioritized-over-pop vibe; no greatest-hits material but still solid)

64. 21 Savage: american dream (it might be the first time someone ever uttered the words "smells like gas in here, I think somebody pooped" in music, but the cinematic landscape across this rap release is super groovy)

Lydia Loveless

63. The Bad Ends: The Power and the Glory (Bill Berry's first music since his days with R.E.M. might kind of sound what a new R.E.M. album would sound like)

62. The No Ones: My Best Evil Friend (speaking of ex-R.E.M. members, Peter Buck teams up with friends for an often Teenage Fanclubesque batch of great pop nuggets)

61. Deeper: Careful! (this angular Chicago post-punk release grooves with a new-wave-sounding Echo-type singer layered over Stephen Malkmus-y guitar hooks)

60. Willie J Healey: Bunny (this British singer-songwriter lands somewhere between All Things Must Pass-era George Harrison and early Lenny Kravitz; really chill and enjoyable)

59. Flyying Colours: You Never Know (a wild American supergroup that combines shoegaze musicality and catchy songwriting, featuring members of Deep Purple, Joe Satriani, Dream Theater, and a singer from the Disney Billboard Top 40 universe!)

58. boygenius: the record (everyone has been losing their minds over this album and I've been a fan of Lucy Dacus albums in the past, but I don't see why it's so special other than a few great tunes)

57. Bully: Lucky for You (one of my favorite bands of the past decade returns with its weakest effort, with sometimes questionable production, but Bully is still the best 90s grunge and power-pop revisionist act around)

56. Belle & Sebastian: Late Developers (these Scots continue to lean heavy into their legendary sense of twee/fey-pop, with typically top-notch results on a quick release following 2022's A Bit of Previous)

55. Ron Sexsmith: The Vivian Line (the first half of this release is absolutely gorgeous, and the rest ain't bad either)

54. Califone: villagers (this Chicago band captures a real Chicago sound, like a quieter and slower swinging The Sea and Cake; leader Tim Rutili has been making great, understated folk pop since way back in his 1990s days with Red Red Meat)

53. Gramercy Arms: Deleted Scenes (the first three songs are candidates for songs of the year, and the rest is pretty enjoyable too from this New York-based collective of musicians that include members of Guided by Voices, The Dambuilders, Lloyd Cole himself, and many others)

52. Louise Post: Sleepwalker (one of Veruca Salt's co-leaders is back after all these years with a catchy album; if you liked them in the 90s, you're going to really like this one)

51. Foo Fighters: But Here We Are (in its first post-Taylor Hawkins release, the FFs are clearly still experiencing agony; and while it's slim on classics, overall it will probably be a grower over time) 

50. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds: Council Skies (this might be the most Oasis-like of any recent releases and all the songs are big and hit-worthy)

49. Megan Maroney: Lucky (this Georgia singer's debut is a little too country and little too polished for my tastes, but after repeat listens, I couldn't help but to just simply sit back and enjoy it)

48. Cut Worms: Cut Worms (this Brooklyn project is gorgeous and sounds like Double Fantasy-era John Lennon with backing from the Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys)

47. Guided by Voices: Nowhere to Go But Up (the final of three GBV releases this year, it starts and ends strong, but Pollard and Company are starting to follow this pattern a little too frequently. Why not just release albums with all killer material like most of the band's releases? Combining the three albums into one may have propelled GBV into the #1 overall slot on this list)

46. Smut: How the Light Felt (there are several bands with this name, but this is the one from Chicago that has beautiful sparkling, bordering-on-shoegaze pop guitars and female vocals, with a bit of a Mazzy Star '90s indie feel)

45. Heyrocco: Teenage Movie Soundtrack (these Charleston, S.C. indie rockers are lots of fun and when they are hitting on all cylanders, they are new versions of sometimes Nirvana and sometimes The Cure)

The Lemon Twigs

44. Bethany Cosentino: Natural Disaster (the Best Coast leader ventures out solo on a record that sounds very similar to latter-day Liz Phair and is loaded with catchy, moving, and topical numbers)

43. The New Pornographers: Continue as a Guest (the latest from these indie nomads misses Dan Bejar's usual few songs but has plenty of sophisticated pop to offer from A.C. Newman and Neko Case)

42. Slaughter Beach, Dog: Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling (this Philadelphia band sounds more out of the Desert West, somewhere between Meat Puppets and Leo Sayer; a catchy pop-folk grower)

41. Those Pretty Wrongs: Holiday Camp (Jody Stephens of Big Star basically adds to the amazing Big Star collection with this often stunningly beautiful release. A great surprise)

40. PONY: Velveteen (these ultra-poppy Torontonians reach for the fun heights that early Juliana Hatfield and The Blake Babies did)

39. Willie Nelson: Bluegrass (Willie's touch is just what the bluegrass genre needs; his loose style makes these tunes, many of them already classics, even more perfect)

38. Slow Pulp: Yard (while the second half tails off a bit, the first half of this release is everything you could want from Midwestern lo-fi shoegaze grunge)

37. Steven Adams: Drops (this British songwriter's album really kept growing on me this year; it's kind of like Pavement mixed with classic-rock bands like Golden Earring)

36. Son Volt: Day of the Doug (Jay Farrar and company are back with music from Doug Sahm that harkens back to classic Uncle Tupelo, which is really saying something about how great this collection is)

35. Marchica: Ped Xing (this Spanish-American band certainly wears its influences on its sleeves, having even previously covered Pavement's classic "Frontwards;" this album is very catchy)

34. Jen Cloher: I Am the River, The River is Me (Courtney Barnett's Australian ex has really gone into the wilds for this release, which provides a powerful deep self reflection)

33. Jenny Lewis: Joy’all (the former child actor and Rilo Kiley leader continues her great string of Stevie Nicks-inspired California sunshine pop)

32. Kara Jackson: Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? (I don't frequently include renowned poets in this year-end list, but this true artiste from Illinois puts together a stunning collection of lyrical songs; it's slow paced but I slowly came to understand and love what she's doing, especially throughout the first half of this album)

31. King Tuff: Smalltown Stardust (this Sub Pop band had my #8 best album of the year in both 2012 and 2014 but has been pretty quiet since; this oddly swerves into Fleetwood Mac territory and is less freaky than earlier releases)

30. Juliana Hatfield: Sings ELO (her guitar playing, singing, and composing really shines on this collection of gorgeous covers of Jeff Lynne songs)

29. Guided by Voices: Welshpool Frillies (so many albums; this one is great as usual and has the benefit of being the one the legends were publicizing for their 40th anniversary weekend that I got to celebrate with them in Dayton over Labor Day)

28. Hurry: Don't Look Back (gorgeous pop from Philly in the vein of The Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub, and other 90s heroes)

27. Cowboys in the Campsite featuring Tommy Stinson: Wronger (even a minor Stinson release is major cause to celebrate; the Replacement continues to somehow get even better and better as a master singer/songwriter, with this side project leaning on countrified mellow stuff)

26. Daisy Jones & The Six: AURORA (talk about Fleetwood Mac, this is absolutely no different than what a great followup to Rumours could have been. I loved this TV show, and the songs took me a while to come around to, but the first half of this score is as good as anything released this year)

25. Ben Folds: What Matters Most (the next great hope to keep Elton John and Billy Joel's pianoman legacy afloat is back with his first album of new material in eight years, and it does at times veer into classic Joel teamed with beautiful flourishes and references to themes from Folds' impressive back catalog)

24. Pardoner: Peace Loving People (Bay Area slacker rockers provide one of the most rauceous and plain-fun punk rock releases of the year, with melodies for days throughout; headphones loud please)

23. Blondshell: Blondshell (this is a great and demented pop debut, and she was great when I saw her open for Liz Phair)

22. Arlo Parks: My Soft Machine (I loved this British singer's first album and her followup may be an even better helping of smooth, pop goodness)

21. Militarie Gun: Life Under the Gun (this record brings me great happiness whenever I hear it; Fugazi-like screamo over the most joyously big melodies; definite banger of the year)

20. Guided by Voices: La La Land (this release starts and ends very strong with some less-great material in the middle; yet another album in which those new to GBV could start out with before getting sucked into their Who-like vortex of thousands of classic "hits")

19. Island of Love: Island of Love (like the male version of Bully, these Londoners came out of nowhere for a debut that blasts out of the speakers as descendants of Dinosaur Jr., Archers of Loaf, and a little Guns n' Roses)

18. Teenage Fanclub: Nothing Lasts Forever (this is not an album that stands out amongst all the band's classics, but it calmly chugs along with great song after inexplicably great song)

17. Bonny Doon: Let There Be Music (this Detroit trio is descended from the slacker-rock likes of Pavement and Silver Jews, and pulls off being both mellow and rocking at the same time)

16. Alex Lahey: The Answer is Always Yes (this is the best non-Courtney Barnett Courtney Barnett album of the year. Lahey is a rock 'n' roll songwriter who is thoroughly modern but could also fit in any era, such as the ones with The Strokes or Blondie)

15. Chappell Roan: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (this Missouri-bred synth-popper is sassy and dirty-mouthed just like you would expect from one of Olivia Rodrigo's tour openers; a lot of party bangers)

14. The Rolling Stones: Hackney Diamonds (nobody saw this one coming, but the new album is more listenable all the way through than anything the band has done since the 1980s and these 80-year-olds sound timeless)

13. Geese: 3D Country (Brooklynites blast onto the scene with a freak-party jam that mashes up country and blues and soul with a heaping helping that lands somewhere between Ween and Radiohead)

12. The Lemon Twigs: Everything Harmony (the band's fourth album is its best and most consistant, with pop and yacht and a lot of mellow at the end. Not a snoozer in the bunch)

11. Dexys: The Feminine Divine (you will get nowhere near a stranger release on this year's list than this one, which is even weirder since a version of this band had one of the 1980s biggest smashes with "Come On Eileen," as Dexys Midnight Runners. This one gets weirder, more beautiful, and simply divine the more I hear it)

10. John P. Strohm: Something to Look Forward To (it’s great to hear from the former Blake Baby and Lemonhead all these years later; still perceptive - and poppy - as ever on the political and social aura of the day)

09. Wilco: Cousin (a subtle release from the band making the most consistently exceptional rock albums, with this one starting weird and beautiful to progressing through quiet numbers and then back to weird and beautiful) 

08. The Bug Club: Rare Birds: Hour of Song (many of these 47 songs - as promised, in an hour - are "burds words" snippet interludes, but the songs bring the finest lo-fi boy-girl mystery group you'll find in 2023; weird and joyous)

07. Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band: Dancing on the Edge (appearently this guy has some great albums with his old band State Champion, but this is my intro to him and it's a beautiful mix of Silver Jews and the Grateful Dead; best lyricist of the year)

06. Lydia Loveless: Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again (I love this alt-country rocker so much; she really doesn't release anything but greatness and this could easily be my favorite album of the year on any given day right alongside the five releases in front of it here)

05. Lil Yachty: Let's Start Here. (this starts out sounding like a cross of Pink Floyd and the best Funkadelic and never releases its sonic grip. The Atlanta mumble rapper graduates from his old style into a super slick batch of jazzy, dancey, and weird pop greatness. I don't want to stop listening)

04. Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS (what can I say? My 10-year-old daughter got this embedded into my head all year long and, try as I might, I can't find a single misstep anywhere; a beautiful collision of rock meets pop, with The Breeders fittingly opening some of her shows)

03. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Weathervanes (this is the former Drive-by Trucker's magnum opus. He has had great albums before but this is his most perfect alt-country display)

02. Taylor Swift: Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (I know a lot of people will groan with this near the top spot, but I defy anyone to say this isn't an amazing collection of 22 (!!!) songs. They are all great, and many are stunningly great)

01. Taylor Swift: 1989 (Taylor's Version) (just when we thought Tay couldn't get any better than Speak Now, 1989 tops it with pop genius pretty much from top to bottom; there is so much to explore here that it will take a lifetime, and it arguably shoudn't even qualify in the list because it's mostly not a new album. But it's my list, so ...)

Enjoy all that music coming your way in 2024!

My favorite reissues, box sets, and live albums of 2023

Reissue releases of old music is a huge category and seems to be growing every year, as the rock n' roll cannon relentlessly marches forward. Alongside with new releases, the sheer volume of reissues I listen to every year doesn't leave me much time to go too deep into live releases. But the two that really stood out to me this year were:

Favorite Live Albums

• Meat Puppets' Camp Songs captures a quirky set from the early 90s Too High to Die era. It starts off a little slow but is great the rest of the way. 
• The 1999 live set included in R.E.M.'s Up (25th Anniversary Edition) is a pretty perfect document of the band in its later era.

Favorite Reissues/Box Sets 

• 
  The large majority of the rage for 2023 reissues rightfully belongs to The Replacements' Tim (Let It Bleed Edition), which was both stunning in bringing out big sounds from that legendary classic album and in further illuminating just how crappy that original recording sounded despite the band's perfection throughout. 
• The only other re-issue that matches the Mats' is obviously The Beatles' 1962-1966 (Red Album) and 1967-1970 (Blue Album). Those were my entrypoints as a kid to my favorite band and they become more mastered and masterful than ever with these new issues. 
• I think The Lemonheads' string of 1990s albums is among the strongest streak in rock history, and so the remastering and addition of plenty of additional tracks and acoustic versions for Come On Feel (30th Anniversary Edition) make for an even-bigger enjoyable listen. 
• Acetone's 1992-2001 is a gem that somehow passed me by but was reissued by the surviving members of this L.A. band that out-Yo La Tengo's Yo La Tengo on several of these mellow and hypnotyzing pieces. 
• 
  Neutral Milk Hotel's concise collection Ferris Wheel on Fire explores songs not released during the band's 90s heyday. 
• The Drive-by Truckers' The Complete Dirty South is a classic of Southern rock n' roll and this version adds a few great songs to the tracklist. 
• Frank Zappa's Funky Nothingness is most likely for the diehards (it's a lot to take in one sitting), but that dude was nuts in some of the best-possible ways. 
• Ffa Coffi Pawb's Hei Vidal! is a late 1980s project by Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals and is an impressive psych-rock glance into all the great music to come from him. 
• Bettie Serveert's The Palomine Demos displays the origins of a classic and way-underrated 1990s album, with the four solo acoustic tracks at the end being the real keepsake here. 
• Guided by Voices finally made its debut 7-song release Forever Since Breakfast available on streaming and at least four of the songs foretell what the world is in for with GBV's next 400 (ish) releases. 
• The Breeders' Last Splash gets a 30th anniversary reissue and has a handful of the very best songs of the 1990s, and I especially love the added Divine Mascis, sung by the leader of Dinosaur Jr. 
• 
  Sparklehorse's Bird Machine isn't really a reissue because it was never issued, but it is archival material from right before leader Mark Linkous died of suicide in 2010. 
• Neil Young's Chrome Dreams is another that's not really a re-issue since it was never issued, but it's new stuff from prime-era Neil. 
• The Who's Who's Next: Life House (Super Deluxe) provides a wealth of materials about Pete Townshend's original visions for that music and it's all great but also a ton to digest. 
• The Beastie Boys' Hello Nasty (Deluxe Version) proves that this band remains classic after all these years. 
• Superchunk's Misfits & Mistakes: Singles, B-sides & Strays 2007–2023 is a wild collection of tunes, and anyone who loves this band or is a completist should check it out. 
• The remaster of Mercyland's No Feet on the Cowling displays this 1989 lost classic from an Athens, Georgia band that never recorded again but sounded here like R.E.M.'s pop meeting Husker Du and Soul Asylum's early punk.

RIP Aston "Family Man" Barrett, plus my 30 favorite Bob Marley songs

Marley and Barrett

Anyone who has ever listened to a lot of Bob Marley and the Wailers knows that sound. That bounce. That groove. That skronk. Much of that sound was supplied by one of my favorite bassists of all-time, Aston Barrett. He has passed away in Miami at the age of 77 after a long illness.

Barrett joined the Wailers with his brother, Carlton, who died back in 1987 and was the drummer. The two provided a formidable backdrop to Marley's iconic singing and guitar playing. Aston Barrett was nicknamed Family Man because he was the father of 41 children. That feat alone was clearly a form of exercise, but that was one of the reasons he loved playing bass. He said it was like going to the gym for exercise.

I've been revisiting Bob Marley over the last few days and my 30 favorites are:

30. Crazy Baldhead

29. Real Situation
28. Coming in from the Cold
27. Stop the Train
26. Burnin' and Lootin'
25. Concrete Jungle
24. No More Trouble
23. Slave Driver
22. Jammin'
21. Keep on Moving

20. Satisfy My Soul
19. Johnny Was
18. Talkin' Blues
17. Who the Cap Fit
16. Them Belly Full
15. High Tide or Low Tide
14. Lively Up Yourself
13. One Love/People Get Ready
12. Stir It Up

11. Bend Down Low
10. Kinky Reggae
09. Buffalo Soldier
08. Get Up, Stand Up
07. I Shot the Sheriff
06. Waiting in Vain
05. No Woman No Cry
04. Three Little Birds
03. Redemption Song
02. Is This Love
01. Could You Be Loved (that little squiggle in the background kills me every time)

My favorite music EPs of 2023

In recent years, it seems EPs (shorter music releases than full-length albums) have proliferated. Artists don't want to take all the time to put together 10 or 15 songs so they get 5 or 6 and shoot it out to the public. But that process may be getting even more adapted to shorter attention spans. There weren't that many EPs released in 2023. There were tons of singles though. No matter, here were my favorites of the EP breed:

• Geese's 3D Country is one of my favorite albums of the year, and 4D Country is an accompanying EP that may be the freakest entry into the yacht-rock genre ever.
• Duff McKagan's This is the Song is very similar to prime-era Guns n' Roses, leaning heavily on the ballad-y styles of "November Rain" and "Civil War." 
• Spoon’s Memory Dust is pretty inconsequential, but it’s still Spoon and the song “Silver Girl” jams. 
• GROUPLOVE's Eyes provides a couple pop gems and a couple Flaming Lips-ish party tunes; the band keeps on pleasantly surprising. 
• You will remember Dexys Midnight Runners from "Come On Eileen," but the band has been releasing a recent string of killer weird and undeniably intriguing releases, the latest being My Submission, that I would urge everyone to at least try to like it. 
• 
  Joan Jett and the Blackhearts provide a boom of fun on Mindsets, especially on “Rear View Mirror.” 
• Soccer Mommy's Karaoke Night is an entertaining collection of covers by the likes of Pavement, Sheryl Crow, and R.E.M. 
• Mickey Dolenz's Dolenz Sings R.E.M., on first glance seems far from essential and just curious. I didn't want to include it on this list. But it is indeed pretty darn good - just like if the Monkees played R.E.M. songs!

The biggest disappointments in music releases for 2023, part 2

Continuing with my year-end music favorites, I'm starting it off with the less favorites. You can check out the first part of my biggest disappointments of 2023, and take a look at the rest here:

• I've been a fan of Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, but Sticks and Stones doesn't have much to grab me. 
• I loved the movie, but other than Lizzo and Dua Lipa's contributions, Barbie The Album isn't very good. 
• Carly Rae Jepsen's The Loveliest Time has a few catchy pop numbers, but it breaks a surprising string of excellent bangers with a more meh affair. 
• Sufjan Stevens’ Javelin has one or two really good songs - and it's near the top of a lot of year-end best-of lists - but it’s mostly boring and not as much of an event as his usual releases. 
• Drake's For All the Dogs has a handful of strong songs but it's mostly an over-loaded and overly hateful mess. 
• 
  I really like Ash, but half of Race the Night is awesome and half is unlistenable. 
• The Streets' The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light shows a rapper I used to love not having grown much. 
• Car Seat Headrest's Faces from the Masquerade is a live album that doesn't add anything of value to the band's fairly impressive catalog to date.
• I like the title track, but I can't imagine when I'd ever need to listen to Peter Gabriel's i/o ever again.

The biggest disappointments in music releases for 2023, part 1

I've been releasing a massive summary of the year's music each year for a long time now. These lists include my favorite 100 or so releases, best reissues, best EPs, and other categories. It's kind of unwieldy and sometimes I've been still adding finds late into the spring of the next year, long after the barrage of other top and favorite lists that come out in December and January. I've actually thought that's not a bad strategy - to keep my list away from the crowd.

But also, my list is too big to read. So this year I'm breaking it up and will be unveiling it over the next several weeks. For now, let's start with the negative - the records that I thought were the biggest disappointments. Obviously, these are all artists I have a lot of love for who I don't think live up to their potential. I had a lot more in this category than usual this year, so here is the first half of the disappointments:

• 
  Ryan Adams puts out so much content that a release like this, covering The Boss's Nebraska, is more than anyone needs and also doesn't give anyone a reason to listen to it over the original. 
• John Cale is one of the most reliable artists around, but the Velvet Underground member sounds like a retread of Interpol on MERCY. 
• Quasi was a really cool band in the 90s, and there are some catchy tunes here, but mostly, Breaking the Balls of History is too overbearing with Sam Coomes' crunching keyboards. 
• Deja vu: I'm not really sure what the point of Ryan Adams' Blood on the Tracks is, but it's among his worst albums. 
• A couple of my 80s faves turn in some underwhelming performances with The Church's The Hypnogogue and The Long Ryders' September November. 
• Mudhoney's Plastic Eternity is not bad but unfortunately doesn't do anything for me and doesn't have a single offering that would fit into their 50 greatest songs, so look elsewhere. 
• Lloyd Cole is an institution with few missteps, but On Pain is a mediocre and minor synth-driven inclusion to his library. 
• 
  A grunge supergroup featuring members of Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam, 3rd Secret's 2nd 3rd Secret should be a little better than a Stone Temple Pilots album, so while it's ok, it's not great. 
• ANOHNI & Antony and the Johnsons produce a messy letdown with My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross.

Stay tuned for the second half of this list.

Great Magazine Reads: The Pretenders in the running for the coolest ever

Honeymoon-Scott, Chambers, Hynde, Farndon (l-r)

I've always considered Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders one of the very most cool rockers - one of those people you would love to have at your dinner party. She pretty much remains the only original member of the band but she's still making pretty vital music, and she is one of those bucket-list artists I still need to see live someday.

Testament to her cool? Have anyone with a sense about rock music listen to "Message of Love" and "Tattooed Love Boys" and tell me The Pretenders are not as cool as it gets. Those James Honeymoon-Scott guitar licks are to die for and Hyde's vocal mannerisms ... there are no words.

I recently started reading Record Collector Magazine. Previously I didn't know it even existed, but an interview with Hynde quickly convinced me this monthly will be added to my regular rotation of magazine reading. (Try it and most other magazines on the Libby app, which is connected to your local library and is the best deal in town for mag lovers.) Here are some great tidbits from the interview:

• When she was 17, Hynde drove with a friend from home in Akron (why are there so many great rockers from Ohio?) to Pittsburgh to see The Kinks in concert. She bumped into Ray Davies outside of the club and they caught each others' eye. Chrissie claims Ray would probably not remember that moment. Nevertheless, she wound up having a daughter with Davies in 1983.
• After Hynde started The Pretenders, bassist Pete Farndon and lead guitarist James Honeyman-Scott drummer both died from drug use. Drummer Martin Chambers stayed on for many years, but now Chrissie says, "It's not like I've retired Martin, but I'm a bit nervous about him on the road, because he's had some health issues."
• The reporter asks her why she feels guilty for the deaths of her bandmates and she says, "Well, I didn't discourage the drug-taking, and I was part of it. So, you know, not that I was their mother, and we went on the road, and it was very hardcore."
• Back On the Chain Gang was the first song Hynde and Chambers recorded after Jimmy and Pete died, which definitely adds levity to an already-great jam.
• Like her friend Sir Paul McCartney, Hynde says, "I can't read music; I still go by the dots on the guitar. I don't even know most of the chord names. I'm not a great player, I just do my little thing and figure it out, but as far as the counting and everything, if someone says, 'You've missed a beat there,' in the early days, I would say, 'Well, that's how it goes, so just memorize it.'"
• Way back, she left Akron and adopted London as her hometown, which is probably part of the reason she seems so exotic to those of us back in the U.S.A. When she first moved there, she got a job in Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's famed boutique Truth Loves To Go Naked, which later became Sex, and was ground central for the Sex Pistols. She pretty quickly go fired.
• The article notes that "the guitar all the way through Woman [by John Lennon] – it's just like Brass In Pocket. And John wrote it in Bermuda just a few months after Brass In Pocket had topped the chart." Hynde says "that's amazing" and says, "John, he is still my favourite singer of all time."
• The interviewer asks, "The 1981 tour was a catalogue of atrocity. You were all drinking a lot and you got yourself arrested in Memphis – what for, exactly?" She responds, "I picked up this guy on the road who I'd known from Ohio. He showed up in Orlando, and he had a Corvette Stingray, and he was fun, so I brought him on the road for a while. We were in a bar called Friday's in Memphis [as featured on the back cover of Big Star's Radio City]. Everyone was in there – all the band and crew. I had to go to the loo and there was a long queue to the ladies’ room, so I went in the men's room, and this guy I was with, Scotty, he really had a go at me. He was trouble, and he was like, 'What are you doing, going in the men's room?' and I was saying, 'What's your problem?' Anyway, we ended up in a back room at Fridays, having an argument, and one of the waiters or managers came up to us and said, 'You have to move from this section, we're closing it.' And because I was loaded, I really took exception to this, and I said, 'Fuck you' – I wasn't going to leave. So, I ended up being stood on by a security guy while they called the police, who put me in the back of this police car with handcuffs on. I somehow slid my hands out of the cuffs and rolled the window down and said, 'Excuse me, constable, I believe these are yours.' So then that kicked off, and next thing you know, they're putting me in leg shackles and handcuffs behind my back. And again, because I was loaded, I kicked all the windows out of the police car. So, I had to spend the night in jail."
• She had her second daughter with Jim "Don't You Forget About Me" Kerr of Simple Minds in 1985.
• The Pretenders covered "Angel Of The Morning," which had previously been a huge hit for Juice Newton and which ended up on the Friends soundtrack. She didn't know anything about the show and it's eventual massic cultural impact, and she even traveled to L.A. to perform the song in the background at a coffee shop in an episode.

Finally, here are my favorite songs by The Pretenders:

Honorable mention: Creep (the band's live version of the Radiohead song is pretty, of course, cool)

11. 2,000 Miles (one of the great underrated holiday tunes)

10. Show Me

9. Mystery Achievement

8. Stop Your Sobbing

7. Kid

6. Back On the Chain Gang

5. Talk of the Town

4. Precious

3. Brass in Pocket

2. Message of Love

1. Tattooed Love Boys

Lydia Loveless shoots into the running for my favorite albums of 2023

I love alt-country rocker Lydia Loveless's songs so much. They really don't release anything but greatness and their new long player, Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again, could easily be my favorite album of the year on any given day. 

Right now, it's in the running for my album of the year alongside: 

• Lil Yachty's Let's Start Here (a cross of Pink Floyd and the best Funkadelic that never releases its sonic grip. The Atlanta mumble rapper graduates from his old style into a super slick batch of jazzy, dancey, and weird pop greatness)
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's Weathervanes (the former Drive-by Trucker's magnum opus. He has had great albums before but this is his most perfect alt-country display), and
• yes, wait for it, Taylor Swift's Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (I defy anyone to say this isn't an amazing collection of 22 (!!!) songs. They are all great, and many are stunningly great).

Back to Loveless. Who the heck is they, you ask? From Columbus, Ohio, their music combines pop, outlaw country, honky tonk, and punk. Loveless identifies as gender fluid, grew up on a farm, and was home-schooled. They were an outcast and dare I say rebel from an early age, living in a small Ohio town that was heavily regious and conformist, but life got better at 14 when their family moved to Columbus.

To me, Loveless's last four albums, ever since 2014, have each been immaculate. They have some releases before then that I simply haven't dug into yet, but I probably should. And I've got to get to some of her live shows, which critics have called "energetic and engaging."

An appreciation of the underrated and still-rocking XTC

Back in junior high, my friends and I really had an XTC phase. We mostly stuck to the band’s greatest hits, an awesome blend of very 1980s dance-y post-punk-pop. And I still don’t go very deep on the band, but its best songs are still so, so good. Total and underrated classics, I’d say. 

First, I offer my 17 essential XTC songs and second is a handful of things I learned about leader Andy Partridge (second from right in the photo) and his gang in a feature in the September 2023 issue of Uncut Magazine (a great zine that I subscribed to just recently, by the way):

1. Senses Working Overtime
2. Making Plans for Nigel
3. Generals and Majors
4. Science Friction
5. Statue of Liberty
6. The Mayor of Simpleton
7. Are You Receiving Me?
8. Ball and Chain
9. Dear God
10. This is Pop
11. Earn Enough for Us
12. The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
13. Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down
14. Life Begins At the Hop
15. King for a Day
16. Towers of London
17. Sgt. Rock

• Partridge recently had a stroke and a heart problem and has since slimmed up and been on a health kick.
• Brian Eno is a fan of the band and once almost produced a record but didn’t.
• Partridge says, “If The Rolling Stones had more balls,” they would have gone in the direction of The New York Dolls.
• He was more influenced by bands like The Stooges and Richard Hell and The Voidoids than older rock bands like the Stones and Sweet.
• After five years straight of touring, Partridge, in 1982, didn’t want to do it anymore. 
• He also quit a 14-year addiction to Valium at that same time.
• He started writing better songs when he was off drugs and says colors and characterizations started popping out for him.
• Partridge doesn’t like crowds and never had a desire to be “part of the scene,” reasons he never moved to London from his hometown of Swindon, which is located straight west of London.
• XTC got kicked off Top of the Pops for goofing around and the band's subsequent lack of appearances on the TV show probably contributed to its  still-underrated (mainly because of being under-known) status.
• Great quote on why he is just email friends with all his old bandmates: “All artists are fucked up – that’s why they have to be artists, to get out the fucked-up-ery.”

Partridge notes that he’s a little sad XTC never reached Beatles levels of fame, but he is also very proud of the music and thinks it will “last a long time.” So far so good.

Courtney Love dishes the gossip on 90s indie rock, plus my favorite Hole songs

Courtney Love and daughter Francis Bean

Writer Jim DeRogatis doesn’t disappoint with his Courtney Love essay in his excellent book Milk It. He of course comes right out of the gates saying Love would never top her band Hole’s album Live Through This, which, in my mind, is nowhere near as accomplished as the band’s next album Celebrity Skin.

I do agree with DeRogatis that Love sounds a lot like Joan Jett. The music is a “skillful synthesis” of the formula laid out by Louie, Louie: quiet, loud, quiet, loud, big ending. 

Hole’s first big American show after her husband Kurt Cobain and her bassist Kristen Plaff both died was in Chicago, “sandwiched between forgettable openers Marilyn Manson and over-hyped headliners Nine Inch Nails.” Love destroyed her guitar and amp and jumped into the crowd. The show was deemed a cathartic success and kicked off a shining time for Love and her band’s popularity.

Interesting gossip nuggets from the article include:

• She hated Vanity Fair for writing that she did heroin while pregnant (she clarifies it was only in the first trimester). 
• Love said Billy Corgan helped her through tough times and adds that he told her his Mellon Collie album was Gen X’s The Wall. She also claims the Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream LP is all about her.
• She said Trent Reznor was a homophone and, like his friend MTV’s Kennedy, a Republican. 
• She lived in Elvis Costello and his wife’s house for a while when she was 18. 
• She said Kurt hated Eddie Vedder. 
• She said Kurt admitted to having a crush on Kim Deal, and also possibly Juliana Hatfield. 
• She likes to project as crazy in interviews because, she says, in business, you do that and people write you a check. 
• She says she heard Tom Petty used to stab a knife into the table when he wanted to make a point with people.
• She claims there was once a poll “in some women’s magazine” that said she was second most likely to go into politics behind Tom Hanks. (That didn’t pan out very accurately.)

And finally, although obviously not part of DiRogatis' essay, my top 6 favorite Hole songs are:

6. Awful (Celebrity Skin, 1999)
5. Violet (Live Through This, 1994)
4. Doll Parts (Live Throught This, 1994)
3. Celebrity Skin (Celebrity Skin, 1999)
2. Miss World (Live Through This, 1994)
1. Malibu (Celebrity Skin, 1999)

Platonic brings rom-com fun to Apple TV+, and my 13 favorite Seth Rogen movies

Platonic continues Apple TV+’s recent attempt to seemingly restart the long festering genre of rom-com TV.

I have little evidence to back that up other than the exceptional recent season 1 of Shrinking. But Platonic’s opening season has recently wrapped and it’s almost as good.

Created by Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller (who has worked on an excellent string of productions that include Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek, Neighbors, and The Muppets), the show is about former best friends played by the hard-not-to-love pair Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne, who reconnect in mid life. They aren’t particularly good for each other, as each episode brings new high jinx that don’t exactly help their progression into mature adulthood.

Rogen is what drew me to Platonic, but I really like Byrne too. 

4 out of 5 stars

On a tangent, here’s my 13 favorite Seth Rogen movies:

13. This is the End (2013)

12. The Interview (2014)

11. Pineapple Express (2008)

10. Funny People (2009)

09. You, Me, and Dupree (2006)

08. Sausage Party (2016)

07. Neighbors (2014)

06. Superbad (2007)

05. Step Brothers (2008)

04. Knocked Up (2007)

03. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

02. Donnie Darko (2001)

01. Anchorman (2004)

Pretty impressive resume!

My favorite albums 90 albums of 2022 (plus some other opinions)

I'm publishing this a little late again this year, but hey, the competition for year-end lists is nonexistent right now. So enjoy, and I hope you find some gems to delve into.

Def Leppard

Biggest Disappointments: Arcade Fire's WE was supposed to be a big rock happening and it certainly does have ambitions, but even the best tracks never propel and often come off like second-rate Tom Petty or Bjork. A new Hoodoo Gurus album is always welcome, but Chariot of the Gods is mostly awful except two or three pretty-good tunes. Red Hot Chili Peppers really push the limits of taste and editing with Unlimited Love, which has two songs ("Not the One" and "It's Only Natural") I like and a whole slew I don't. The same can be said of the over-stuffed (I guess at least they were prolific this year) Return of the Dream Canteen. Jack White's Fear of the Dawn has lots of creative exploratory sounds but it's mostly guitar wankery bordering on rap-rock that isn't very enjoyable. Sondra Lerche's Avatars of Love has him reaching for tuneless melodies. Old Crow Medicine Show's Paint This Town is by far the least inspired effort I've ever heard from the best bluegrass rock band around. Sunflower Bean made my 2018 and 2019 lists but there's nothing memorable from Headful of Sugar. It's a little unfair to put Def Leppard's Diamond Star Halos release in this category because it's actually pretty good, but it's also pretty unneccessary. As a long-time fan, it pains me to say that of Montreal's I Feel Safe With You, Trash is too weird for me, even if it is a warped version of other greats like The Bee Gees, Prince, and Pink Floyd. Same goes for the band's Freewave Lucifer f>ck f>ck f>ck ... And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead's XI: BLEED HERE NOW is overblown in the band's usual way but with far fewer hooks than usual. King Princess's Hold On Baby was one I was really looking forward to but the entire thing flails wildly and unenjoyably. Broken Bells' INTO THE BLUE ends the string of strong side-project releases from the leaders of The Shins and Danger Mouse. The Smashing Pumpkins' ATUM - Act 1 has a few ok tunes, but most of it isn't good and some is just embarrasing.

Best EPs: Weezer keeps prolifically pumping out music with SZNZ: Spring and it's all excellent emo-power-pop. Same goes for SZNZ: Summer and SZNZ: Winter. If you love rock music, there’s simply no excuse for not finding something to love in the music of these consummate pros. Waxahatchee's El Deafo is a minor release for work she did for an Apple TV kids show, but any Waxahatchee is great Waxahatchee. Michael Beatty's 42nd Street Hymn displays my friend's Elton John-level piano playing with a beautiful lyrical trip around the Big Apple. PJ Western's Here I Go is three tunes of groovy rock from L.A. that I know nothing else about.

Lemonheads

Best Reissues/Box Sets: Lemonheads' It's a Shame About Ray (30th Annversary) is one of my favorite albums by one of my favorite artists, and I own almost everything on offer here already, but it's a great place to start for those unaware of the magic of leader Evan Dando. While not technically a reissue, Tegan and Sara's Still Jealous is an acoustic retelling of many of their best songs and it offers more insight into how great their songwriting has been over the years. Pavement's Terror Twilight: Farewell Horizontal continues the massive remastering and compiling project of the band's albums, and repeat listens to this one reveal what seemed like a lesser release at the time to be a direction-changing masterpiece. Lou Reed's I'm So Free: The 1971 MCA Demos is a perfect quiet setting for this great setlist to display its beauty and, it can be said, early perfection. Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Deluxe Edition) is a massive collection of the songs in various formats from that album; for serious die-hards but also great to just shuffle all day. The Beatles' Revolver (Deluxe) is a fun and important listen once or twice, but the final versions of all these songs are so perfectly selected out of all the outtakes, that the band should be given a reward for so strikingly recognizing their best material so consistently. Blondie's Against the Odds: 1974-1982 reminded me how much I actually love this band and how much deeper its catalog of key cuts goes beyond the greatest hits.

Best Live Albums: The Beatles' Get Back (Rooftop Performance) is so similar to the Let It Be recordings that it's hardly necessary; that said, it also shows how amazing The Beatles live would have been in the second half of the band's career. Elvis Presley's Elvis on Tour is a pretty stunning box set (I honestly have only listened to the Hampton Roads show) of late-period Elvis. He was a swinging, loose, really cool dude at this point.

Lainey Wilson

90. Lainey Wilson: Bell Bottom Country (I quite like a handful of the more Gaga-like ballads on this release, but the rest is way too mainstream country cheese)

89. The Volunteered: We Fall Apart (this London band bills itself as "a less miseable Sparklehorse." I'm there)

88. Chime School: Chime School (this San Francisco outlet is perfect for anyone who prefers their rock in the jangle form of The Byrds, R.E.M., and Tom Petty)

87. Cheap Star: Wish I Could See You (this Euro band harkens to the sounds of 1990s indie more than Cheap Trick and Big Star, but it's not far from those 70s bands either)

86. Liam Gallagher: C'MON YOU KNOW (this review is the same as Lainey Wilson's above, but replace "mainstream country" with "Britpop")

85. Julia Jacklin: PRE PLEASURE (this Australian's cool dirges paint warm pictures, with the album's first four songs as the highlights)

84. Personal Trainer: Big Love Blanket (this Amsterdam outfit markets in party songs along the lines of LCD Soundsystem and the New Pornographers)

83. Neil Young with Crazy Horse: Toast (there are plenty of stinkers here but when Neil is at his best, as with about three songs on this release, he still reaches heights of beautiful glory)

82. Silversun Pickups: Physical Thrills (this band still throws back to Smashing Pumpkins territory, and it knows how to write a song, as evidenced by the five tunes I love here, but it also knows how to not sound very good, as evidenced by the rest)

81. Mason Jennings: Real Heart (the Minneapolis pop-folkster who released several really good albums in the early 2000s has laid pretty low lately, but this is an enjoyable minor return)

80. Jack Johnson: Meet the Moonlight (a pretty minor, but still quietly beautiful as always, release from the surfman)

Superorganism

79. Superorganism: World Wide Pop (this isn't as good as the band's debut four long years ago, with too much vocoder and wack-job stuff thrown into the kitchen sink, and even the Stephen Malkmus contributions don't match his standards, but it's still an intriguing listen)

78. Destroyer: LABYRINTHITIS (By Destroyer standards, this is a real misfire. But he sets the bar high for himself, and while this release never really takes off, like the not-quite-great 7-minute opening track, it's still somewhat addictive)

77. Sea Power: Everything Was Forever (I'll always love this British space-rock band, even if this release is not quite as great as past records like Do You Like Rock Music and The Decline of British Sea Power)

76. Dehd: Blue Skies (this is my first exposure to this Chicago indie-rock three-piece, but their stuttering and lo-key approach is right up my alley)

75. Drive By Truckers: Welcome to Club XIII (this seems to have been inspired by a trip to a gentleman's club and is a pretty middle-of-the-road DBT release, which means pretty darn good)

74. Willie Nelson: A Beautiful Time (I love Willie so much and this album has a bunch of stand-out tracks, especially on the second half)

73. Ryan Adams: Chris (this is epically long and there are very few standout tracks, but it's still a good alt-country listen throughout) 

72. Craig Finn: A Legacy of Rentals (this one from The Hold Steady's leader borders on going into the Biggest Disappointment category because it tails off severely in the second half, but there happen to be about five poetically tight jams at the top)

71. Will Sheff: Nothing Special (Okkervil River and Shearwater's frontman goes out on his own for this one and offers a tender slice into the beautiful mind and world of one of indie rocks's most compelling artists)

Steve Lacy

70. Steve Lacy: Gemini Rights (the former Internet guitarist has a quirky, Peter Brady-voice way about him that lends originality to the world of R&B)

69. Pink Mountaintops: Peacock Pools (the Canadian freak stoner pop this band puts out is always a treat; there are a handful of greatest-hits worthy tunes and the rest is all interestingly groovy weird)

68. Josh Rouse: Going Places (I always like his pop-leaning folk and this one is no exception, lots of great little tunes to hum, kind of in the Jack Johnson mold)

67. Willie Nelson: American Rebel (prolific as always, Willie covers 18 early 60s tunes, with his usual Willie awesomeness. Highlight: Why Are You Pickin' On Me?)

66. Robyn Hitchcock: Shufflemania (after a break from songwriting during the pandemic, the modern answer to Syd Barrett is back in rocking, weird, pop style)

65. Helen Love: This is My World (this punky pop is a fiesty slice of life in Wales, from a group that's been around for a long time but this being my first exposure to them. Depressing yet still fun)

64. Harry Styles: Harry's House (like Craig Finn's album, this one has a great batch of party-pop tunes at the beginning then tails off quite a bit in the second half)

63. My Idea: CRY MFER (this starts out with two tunes that sound like long-lost Blake Babies classics, and there are moments later but it's way too long. Makes the list for Cry Mfer and Crutch alone)

LATE ENTRY: Diners: Four Wheels and the Truth (a little twee release that has a very solid five songs and a handful of other good ones; this is a Phoenix band with several previous albums I haven't listened to yet)

62. Ryan Adams: Romeo & Juliet (this suffers from being way too long. With an editor, this release and Chris would have been two of the year's best)

61. Ryan Adams: FM (this is the best of the troubled artist's whopping three releases in 2022, partly because it's all enjoyable but mostly because he edits it down to a manageable 10 tracks, unlike his other epically long releases)

Militarie Gun

60. Militarie Gun: All Roads Lead to the Gun (Deluxe) (melodic hardcore out of Seattle that sounds like Fugazi with ultra-catchy guitars and accompanying vocals that often swoop in beautifully)

59. Christian Lee Hutson: Quitters (this L.A. songwriter is new to me, and the album is beautiful throughout, in an Elliot Smith rowdy-folk sort of way)

58. EELS: Extreme Witchcraft (this doesn't quite reach the pinnacle of early 2000s EELS, but it's still consistently catchy pop by a band that is difficult to peg into any specific genre)

57. Young Guv: GUV III (this is a nice upgrade from 2019's already-excellent gem from this L.A. power-pretty-pop band)

56. The Linda Lindas: Growing Up (this buzz band's pre-album singles conquered the world with feel goodism during covid, taking a tip from the school of Best Coast punk pop)

55. Girlpool: Forgiveness (some of these songs are throwaways, but enough of them are beautiful and weird and harken back to Girls, one of my favorite dreamy bands from a decade ago)

54. Kurt Vile: (watch my moves) (this album is way too long but it's still always listenable freak pop)

53. Leah Weller: Freedom (this is more up the Norah Jones easy-listening aisle than what I normally listen to. But she's legendary Paul Weller's daughter, and on multiple listens, it's more mellower Lady Gaga than it is Style Council)

52. Ty Segall: "Hi, Hello" (a surpringly great entry from this freak, whose releases have been hit-or-miss over the years; it's like a gorgeous update of George Harrison's All Things Must Pass)

51. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Cool It Down (this is a compact little release, but it packs a high ratio of great tunes, I would say more than the average YYY release)

50. Rhett Miller: The Misfit (the Old 97s leader starts this solo release out with a bang of several classics in a row; it tails off a bit but still ends up as a pop gem)

49. Jake Xerxes Fussell: Good and Green Again (maybe with the exception of Bill Callahan, this North Carolina sonwriter is putting out some of the very best folk music around)

Jesse Malin

48. Jesse Malin: Glitter in the Gutter (while not as great as his 2021 release, this New Yorker is experiencing a serious career resurgence, and people like Bruce Springsteen, guesting here, are noticing)

LATE ENTRY: Ben Lee: I'M FUN (I didn't hear this until Summer 2023, but the first half is classic Ben Lee singer songwriting feel-good jams)

47. Dumb: Pray for Tomorrow (this long-player from a band of Vancouver punks should satisfy those who lament the lack of any Pavement or Parquet Courts new releases in 2022)

46. The Weeknd: Dawn FM (he continues to carry the Thriller-era Michael Jackson torch, and while there is some filler, there are also a lot of dreamy big hits)

45. BaLonely: Thank You, I'm Sorry (an exciting debut from these Washington state indie-rock kids with a good sense of playfulness in their lyrics and angular guitars)

44. Jack White: Entering Heaven Alive (a catchy set of numbers ranging from jaunty bluegrass to Going to California-style Zep, this is a top-notch addition to the White Striper's catalogue)

43. Guided by Voices: Crystal Nuns Cathedral (there is a lot less bang for the buck thoughout this release from my second-favorite band, but even a more minor GBV release is better that 99.9% of the rest)

42. The Regrettes: Further Joy (these L.A. punkers have gone full-on Top 40 pop, and it's the right decision, with a whole slew of outta-be megahits)

41. Bill Callahan: REALITY - spelled backwards (another darkly satisfying release from the ex-Smog master; it often takes repeat listens to understand and appreciate his indie sob pop, but it's almost always a satifying experience)

40. Belle and Sebastian: A Bit of Previous (it's always great to have more lite-pop from Glasgow's second best band, behind Teenage Fanclub)

Bill Callahan

39. Soccer Mommy: Sometimes, Forever (one of the biggest stars these days on the indie scene broadens her horizons by touching on several big-guitar genres)

38. Plains (with Waxahatchee): I Walked With You A Ways (a beautiful little, alt-country, bluegrass-y side project release that is one of the undeniable uplifters of the year)

37. Alvvays: Blue Rev (these Canadians make kind of a splash when they release a new album, with only three over the past decade and this is the first in 5 years; driving dream shoegaze)

36. Sloane: Steady (the Canadian rockers release a new batch of super catchy pop gems)

35. Mapache: Roscoe's Dream (I discovered this band this year, which regales us with tales of its tour dog amidst California sunshine pop mixed with touches of Grateful Dead)

34. Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band: Dear Scott (this gorgeous soft Britpop release starts off perfect for the first six songs then tails off a bit at the end)

33. Say Sue Me: The Last Thing Left/10 (I'm grouping these two release as one by these South Koreans obsessed with indie-rock. One album focuses on original material and the other covers classic bands like Pavement, Guided by Voices, and Yo La Tengo)

Lola Kirke

32. Lola Kirke: Lady for Sale (this is definitely a strange one for the list, with the Mozart in the Jungle actor coming along in full goofball pop Dolly Parton mode; it's infectious. "New country" should take pointers)

32. Urge Overkill: Oui (one of my favorite bands of the 1990s is back doing the same glam-pomp-rock it became known for from Pulp Fiction; while there aren't particular standouts, it should prove to be a solid listen for many years)

31. Guided By Voices: Tremblers and Goggles by Rank (this release goes a little proggier than usual, with two songs even longer than 5 minutes, but it is a hard rock-pop jam)

30. beabadoobee: Beatopia (the next-generation Julianna Hatfield always keeps listeners on their toes with inspired and creative indie pop)

29. Eddie Vedder: Earthling (I know, you love him or you hate him ... but the Pearl Jam frontman shows that he is definitely a mega part of why that band has become so legendary, writing several songs here that are as good as anything PJ has ever done)

28. Robert Pollard: Our Gaze (GBV's Pollard pulls a Taylor Swift to re-record 15 of the songs from two harder-to-find 2007 releases; there are at least five classic cuts, with plenty of others to absorb)

27. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers: Nightroamer (this isn't quite as great as the North Carolina band's first two LPs, but it is definitely my favorite current Uncle Tupelo-styled country punk)

26. Built to Spill: When the Wind Forgets Your Name (BTS is back with a Perfect From Now On-type set that harkens back to the band's best pop since the 1990s)

25. Conan Gray: Superache (this is the male version of Olivia Rodrigo, pleading and temperamental, but ultimately touching and confessional and innovative Top 40 pop) 

Lucius

24. Lucius: Second Nature (the dance tracks feel like ABBA and Donna Summer and the ballads take me back to the Lada Gaga-led A Star Is Born soundtrack, which was also mushy claptrap that I couldn't get enough of)

23. Tegan and Sara: Crybaby (a nice understated pop return by indie's answer to Taylor Swift)

22. Pixies: Doggerel (Frank Black and his Pixies have been treading water for a while after a tremendous hot streak from the 1980s to the 2000s, but this one brings the non-stop post-punk jams)

21. Fantastic Negrito: White Jesus Black Problems (this is groovy and poppy in places and dives into Funkadelic-style freakiness in others, cross jumping a bunch of genres. Awesome)

20. Wet Leg: Wet Leg (this British band's debut came with about as much buzz as it gets in the indie-rock world. There are a handful of hard-driving and funny pop classics, several other very good songs, and a few that will not age well)

19: I Was a King: Follow Me Home (these Norwegians almost out-Elf Power Elf Power with their gentle psychedelic pop-rock; I wish more bands played this type of music this well)

18. Elf Power: Artificial Countrysides (these Athens, Georgia psych-poppers might be incapable of making a bad song, meeting somewhere between Pink Floyd, the Beatles, and Sebadoh)

17. Carley Rae Jepsen: The Loneliest Time (for my money, Jepsen is the closest artist to a threat in the Taylor Swift genre of dance/good-mood Top 40 pop; like Swift, she rarely has a less-than-stellar song these days)

16. Spoon: Lucifer on the Sofa (this Austin band just keeps getting better. In a more just world there would be a large handful of Top 10 hits from this release, with several interludes of beautiful ambient pop-rock to round it out)

Spiral Stairs

15: Spiral Stairs: Medley Attack (often unfairly forgotten in the brilliance of Stephen Malkmus and Pavement is Spiral Stairs, and he comes back with an understated and, frankly, very fun and humorous blast of throwing a lot of pop at the walls. It all sticks)

14: Wilco: Cruel Country (a massive injection of mellow country into the band's catalog, this one keeps growing and growing on me, like Uncle Tupelo's March 16-20, 1992 did all those years ago)

13: Band of Horses: Things Are Great (this is no great step forward for the band, but the record as a whole is just kind of perfect, refining all the best elements of past releases into a solid and constant beautiful flow)

12: Orville Peck: Bronco (this is my favorite country - with some twists - artist in a long time. His second full-length proves Peck is no flash in the pan, and there is a good laugh or chuckle on average at least once a song)

11. Freedy Johnston: Back on the Road to You (this is another blast from the past, with this album maybe being even better than his classic ‘90s This Perfect World. If you want straight-forward singer-songwriter pop, this is as good as it gets)

10. Archers of Loaf: Reason in Decline (the Chapel Hill legends' first album in 24 years may be 2022's biggest treat; the band is angry at the times we're living in, turning it into essential melodic post-punk)

Archers of Loaf

09: Bruce Foxton and Russell Hastings: The Butterfly Effect (it's amazing how much Foxton's voice sounds Paul Weller's voice from late-era Jam, as the band swayed a bit from the punk more into the pop that would become The Style Council; this might be the best Jam-related release since that prime era, which is saying a lot)

08. Big Joanie: Back Home (this British band of punk girls fuzzes a complicated and buzzy collection of songs that are a little like Pixies if that group were still great)

07. Superchunk: Wild Loneliness (this is simply a perfect collection of songs, and there is ample reason to think it may go down as Superchunk's most epic, greatest album, which is saying a lot)

06. Alex Cameron: Oxy Music (this play on Roxy Music may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's an innovative soft pop masterpiece in a growing line of the like from this artsy Aussie)

05. Kiwi Jr.: Chopper (this Toronto band has been simmering at the border of greatness throughout their first two albums and they hit on all cylinders for release #3; plus, if we can't have a new Pavement album, at least we have this)

04. Phoenix: Alpha Zulu (this is a joyous collection of new music from France's finest; I wasn't expecting a comeback this great, essential, timeless, and dancefloor-ready)

03. The Beths: Expert in a Dying Field (New Zealand's answer to Courtney Barnett takes a top-3 spot on my list for a second time, after 2020's Jump Rope Gazers did so. The band makes pop that cheers me up every time I hear it)

Taylor Swift

02. The Afghan Whigs: How Do You Burn? (I didn't foresee this happening, and maybe I love it so much because I binged it over and over while finally down with my first-ever count of covid, but this is a gorgeous slow-grower from one of my favorite bands of the 1990s. Greg Dulli and company issue their finest release since 1993's Gentlemen. It starts off sounding like 1990's Up in It and progresses to more of a Gentlemen vibe, even including Dulli's female double Susan Marshall back in the mix on some vocals) 

01. Taylor Swift: Midnights (she is an unstoppable force; the only thing negative I can say is maybe the last two songs on the 3 am edition aren't necessary. The rest is perfect, conversational lyrics to the max and all)