Review of Blackmore's Night's "Ghost of a Rose"

I posted this review a few minutes ago on the Sputnik Music website.

Review Summary: "And the winds would cry/And many men would die/And all the waves would bow down to the Loreley."

Ghost of a Rose (2003) is one of Blackmore's Night's stronger LPs. It's their fourth studio album, and on this one, they continued a process which had begun on their previous album, that of stretching their musical boundaries. While the English Renaissance sound remains the defining characteristic of the band, on this one, they've expanded into various other sub-genres of folk music as well, including Slavic and gypsy folk, American pop folk and maritime music. 

There are fifteen tracks on Ghost of a Rose, and several of them are outstanding. The title number is one of those delicate, romantic songs that Blackmore's Night absolutely excels in. It's partially inspired by a cello concerto written by the British composer Edgar Elger, and is dedicated to Elger and Jacqueline Du Pre, who famously recorded the piece in 1965. It tells the story of a free spirited "maiden fair" (who seems to be supernatural in origin) who is separated from her "true love", but remains in his heart because she's taught him to always think of her whenever he sees a white rose. Candice Night has one of the loveliest voices in all of modern music, and the song's simple beauty is tailor-made for her. 

A second standout track is "Loreley". This is an upbeat little sea chanty based upon the German legend of the Lorelei, a siren whose haunting voice draws sailors to crash upon the rocks at the base of a cliff that overlooks the Rhine River. "Diamonds and Rust", on the other hand, is based on a legend of a different kind, namely that of Bob Dylan. This is a cover of a 1975 hit single by the American folk artist Joan Baez, and it's basically an F.U. song to Dylan, who seems to have broken her heart a decade prior. I miss Baez's exquisite finger-picked guitar on this version -- it's replaced here by some of Ritchie Blackmore's acoustic Renaissance stylings -- but Night presents us with a compelling alternate version of the song that might not eclipse Baez's original, but at least gives us an interesting variation of this classic track.

There are a number of other really strong numbers here as well. "All for One" is a stirring medieval anthem that mines some of the same territory as "Past Time With Good Company" from the band's 1999 Under a Violet Moon album. This one even gives Blackmore a chance to insert just a smidgen of emotive electric guitar. "Cartouche" mixes gypsy folk rhythms with the ancient Egyptian concept of the cartouche, a type of amulet that was buried with kings and queens to grant them immortality. "Way to Mandalay" is the album's sole single, which is strange considering the song is over six minutes long. It didn't really go anywhere on the singles charts, but it's still a pretty cool little track, featuring some Middle Eastern percussion and some atypical (for Blackmore's Night) synth work. It's something of a haunting musical journey through a "misty moor". There's also a cover of a relatively obscure Jethro Tull song ("Rainbow Blues"), and a couple of little acoustic instrumental ditties that give Mr. Blackmore a chance to show off some of his subtler guitar magic ("Nur Eine Minute" and "Mr. Peagram's Morris and Sword").

I have friends who are huge fans of classic rock music who are appalled that a rock legend like Ritchie Blackmore, a man who is, after all, responsible for one of the most iconic electric guitar riffs of all time in Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", "wastes" his talents (as they see it) pretending to be a minstrel in a Renaissance Fair. If you're of a similar mind, then other than the occasional guitar lick that's just going to make you wish there were more like it, this isn't going to be an album for you. But if you enjoy folk music in general, and appreciate Renaissance music and/or myth-themed folk, Ghost of a Rose will definitely scratch that itch for you.


Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Review of The Moody Blues' "Seventh Sojourn"

I just posted this on the Sputnik Music website a few moments ago:

The span from 1967 through 1972 was quite a prolific period for The Moody Blues. They released seven albums in five years. And if, in retrospect, the quality of their music never reached the high level of contemporaries such as Pink Floyd or Yes, they were more consistent than either of those bands -- they might never have reached the heights of a Wish You Were Here or Close to the Edge, but they also never sunk as low as The Final Cut or Tormato during this period. One of the reasons for this steadiness might be that The Moodies managed to ride out this seven-album stretch with a changless lineup: Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Ray Thomas, Mike Pinder and Graeme Edge.

Seventh Sojourn (1972) was the final album of what some fans refer to as the group's "Core Seven". It's oddly named, considering it's the band's eighth album (and their 1978 follow-up Octave is their ninth). This is because for many years, The Moodies claimed 1967's Days of Future Passed as their first LP, choosing to ignore 1965's The Magnficent Moodies, because it featured a different style of music, and some different personnel (with Denny Laine and Clint Warwick in place of Hayward and Lodge). Seventh Sojournwas also keyboardist Mike Pinder's last full album with the band -- while he does appear on Octave, he left the group midway through the recording process.

A listen to the eight tracks on this LP reveals that once again, consistency is the order of the day. There are probably no great songs here, but neither are there any bad ones. The style of music is classic Moodies -- the album is full of mellotron and flute, with the only two guitar-driven tracks being "You and Me", the song that opened the second side on the original vinyl release, and "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band", the album's last cut. The vocals are pleasant throughout, with Hayward splitting the lead vocal duties with bandmates Pinder, Lodge and Thomas. 

The lyrical themes are mostly simplistic -- they all feature some variation of "All You Need Is Love", whether that be love of one's fellow humans, or occasionally romantic love. Truth be told, lyrics were never The Moodies' strong point. The only two numbers that dip their toes into something darker are the album opener, "Lost in a Lost World", which is an anti-war song, and "When You're a Free Man", a song that looks with hope toward better days, but takes a bleaker, more desperate, view of the present.

As for highlights, I've always been partial to the sole Ray Thomas number on the album, "For My Lady", which is essentially a sea shanty that takes a chivalrous, somewhat old-fashioned look at love: "Oh I'd give my life so lightly/For my gentle lady." Pinder plays a Chamberlin on this track, which he manages to make sound like an accordion. Hayward also has a pair of strong numbers here, the slow and beautiful "New Horizons", and "The Land of Make Believe", on which Thomas' flute creates something of a fairy-tale atmosphere.

"I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)", which was also released as a single, is one of Sojourn's best (and rockiest) tracks, and ends the LP on an upbeat note, but I've had a bone to pick with it since the album's original release. The lyrics for the bridge are as follows: "How can we understand/Riots by the people for the people/Who are only destroying themselves/And when you see a frightened person/Who is frightened by the people/Who are scorching this Earth." ... and that's where it ends. What? What happens when you see this frightened person? Finish the fucking thought! If you start a phrase with the idea, "And when this ...", you're implying there's a "then that"! Don't leave me hanging like this, Lodge, you lazy fucking bastard! ... OK. Sorry.  Deep breaths. ... Whew. ... I feel much better now. I've been waiting to get that off my chest for a long, long, time. Anyway, it's still a really good song.

So there you have it. Seventh Sojourn -- not great, but pretty good. The last album of the best period in The Moody Blues' career. Not particularly challenging, but still very enjoyable. It's now been 45 years since its original release, and I still like it. 

I'm going to go lie down now. See you next time.

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Top 20 Songs of 2017, Part 2

So let's do this thing! The other night, I posted Part 1 of my Top 20 Songs of 2017 list. Here, in reverse order, is Part 2:


10. Incubus - "Familiar Faces"

I'll be the first to admit it -- this year's Incubus release, 8, isn't a great album, or even a very good one. But even at their best, I've always found Incubus to be one of those bands whose albums are kind of mixed -- there's usually some mediocre stuff, and some really good cuts. This song is one of the latter. It really moves. Unfortunately, I think Incubus has lost the capacity to even tell anymore which are their good songs and which are crap -- I saw them live this past summer, and this was one of the only songs from the 8 album they didn't play. Sad.


9. The Cranberries - "Why"

The recent death of Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan was a tragic loss, and it's eerie that this song, one of only three new ones on their acoustic Something Else album, is a song about meeting up again in the afterlife. I can tell you honestly, though, this one was always going to make this list, from long before O'Riordan's passing. I just wasn't sure about its placement. To describe it, it's a slow and alluring song about a love that death can't conquer.


8. Aimee Mann -- "Goose Snow Cone"

This is the best cut off of the stark, beautiful Mental Illness album. It's a quiet song that begins with the gentle sound of what appear to be sleigh bells. According to Mann, it was inspired by a photo of a friend's cat she received while on tour in Ireland, and if you're a cat person, the video for the song might just make you cry.


7. Tigers Jaw - "Escape Plan"

Maybe it's just because I'm getting older, but I really had a taste for sad, dreamy ballads this year. I love the vocals by Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins here. These guys are going on tour later this month with Yowler and Looming, and I'm really sorry they're not coming closer to Long Island than Pawtucket.


6. The Birthday Massacre - "Endless"

Thematically, this is something of a darker version of The Cranberries' "Why" song. But this one is a little louder, and filled with nicely programmed synths. The style here is gothic version of new wave revival. And you can even dance to it, if you're so inclined.


5. The Magnetic Fields - "Have You Seen It in the Snow?"

Stephin Merritt is known for writing songs with a wry, and sometimes, cutting sense of humor. But this track, which is essentially a love song to New York, finds him at his most sincere and sentimental. As another transplanted New Yorker myself, while I see many faults with the city of my birth, this one still sends a flush of warmth through me.


4. Leslie Mendelson - "Jericho"

Once upon a time, Leslie Mendelson was a Long Islander, and the lead singer of a somewhat successful local jam band called Mother Freedom. Now she's an L.A. gal trying to make it as a solo artist in the cold, hard music business. This wistful and touching folk ballad finds her trying to find her way back home.

Addendum: So after I posted this list, I heard from Ms. Mendelson, and it turns out she doesn't live in L.A. now, she lives in Brooklyn. Oh well. It's still a really great song.


3. Linkin Park - "One More Light"

The suicide of Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington was another great loss to the music world in 2017. But while the One More Light album was justly criticized by fans as being too full of cheesy pop, this, the title track, was one of the best songs of the year. And just like "Why" by The Cranberries, this one was always going to make this list. It was written about a friend of the band who died of cancer, and the subsequent death of Bennington only serves to make the song even more poignant.


2. Dot Hacker - "Beseech"

I had never even heard of the California experimental rock band Dot Hacker before 2017, but this trippy little song grabbed me early in the year and never let me go. While "Beseech" is a quiet song, there are all kinds of interesting little things going on here musically. I guess that's all I really want to say about this one.


1. Eisley -- "A Song for the Birds"

While I've always loved Sherri DuPree's vocals, what I used to like best about Eisley was the way her voice intermingled with the vocal harmonies provided by her sisters, Chauntelle and Stacy. Consequently, with the latter two leaving the band, their 2017 I'm Only Dreaming left me a little cold. On this upbeat, bouncy track, however, DuPree gets an able assist from her husband, Say Anything's Max Bemis, and just it does in the couple's excellent side band Perma, it proves to be a winning combination. Hands down, this is the catchiest alternapop song I've heard in a long time. That's why it's my favorite song of 2017.


So that about does it. I hope you've enjoyed my end-of-the-year Best Of lists, whether you agree or disagree with my choices. And if you did disagree -- well, 2018 is a new year! Later, friends.

Top 20 Songs of 2017, Part 1

Wow, I'm actually getting the first half of this list posted by the end of January. This may be a record for me.

For some reason (probably because I was working from so many damned albums), it was especially difficult to cut it down to 20 songs this year, and in fact, I think when I enter the list on Sputnik this year, I'm going to do it as a Top 25. This is because of two songs in particular that I can't bring myself to totally give up on, but I couldn't get rid of any of the ones in my Top 20 list either. I'll list these two as "Honorable Mentions" below.

I have fewer restrictions for songs than I have for albums. The songs can come from EPs or compilations as well as LPs, just as long as the LP the song is on was released during 2017. (I know sometimes some of these might have been released as singles in 2016, but if the album the song is on was released in 2017, it's a 2017 song).

For some reason, even more so than in previous years, I have a lot of songs on here from albums I thought were just mediocre or even poor, but they had that one great song. Oh well. Anyway, without further doo-doo:


Honorable Mentions: The two songs I couldn't let go of were "Righteous Woman" by Torres and "Obligatory Drugs" by Black Kids. The second one is a completely goofy song, but I can't help but smile every time I play it. And just so my blog readers don't miss out, the other three songs I'll be putting into the Top 25 list on Sputnik are "Tell Me a Story" by Grouplove, "Bad Company" by Jule Vera, and "Heaven" by Pvris.


And here's Part 1 of my list,in reverse order:


20. Coin - "Talk Too Much"

This one is just an alternapop bit of heaven. It's bouncy and it's catchy. It's not the deepest song ever, and if you don't like alternative pop, it won't do anything for you. But I like it. It's from the band's How Will You Know If You Never Try album.


19. Dia - "Gold and Silver"

This is from one of the first albums I listened to last year, Dia's (formerly known as Dia Frampton, of Meg & Dia, and Archis, fame) Bruises. It's a slow and dreamy pop number about Dia's musical dreams, and how much she misses working with her older sister (who has retired from music). The album came fairly close to making my Top 10, only dropping back near the end of the year.


18. The Flaming Lips - "There Should Be Unicorns"

This song is slow and strange, and reminds me of Bob Ross on acid. Except that instead of painting "happy little trees", he's painting unicorns (the ones with the purple eyes, not the ones with the green eyes), and paying huge sums of money to the police, so they can "quit their shitty, violent jobs, and live the greatest life they've ever lived." Ok then.


17. MisterWives - "Machine"

This is one of those cases where I was only so-so on the Connect the Dots album, but I love this song. (This band's "Our Own House" song almost made my Top 20 list in 2015). It's a song that makes you want to move along with it. It's also a Tour de Force for vocalist Mandy Lee, who proves during the bridge she can sing really, really fast, and remember a lot of words as well.


16. Styx - "Locomotive"

One of the advantages of becoming something of an old coot is that you can draw songs from older bands that the kids would never admit listening to because they're long past being cool. (As if "Come Sail Away" could ever go out of style! Hmph!). Anyway, this is a slow, somewhat despairing song that can't help but make me think of Bowie's "Space Oddity". It's sung to a lost spaceship from a sad technician at mission control.


15. Rainer Maria - "Ornaments of Empty"

This one is from this NYC indie rock band's first new studio album in eleven years, S/T (which actually stands for "self-titled", because the album is also simply known as Rainer Maria). It's the ultimate ode to finding yourself turned from a person into a sex object who is fit only to be decorated and displayed.


14. London Grammar - "Truth Is a Beautiful Thing"

This slow and quiet ballad is the title track of the album on which it is presented. While many rave about the vocals of lead singer Hannah Reid, for me, this one is all about the piano, which is absolutely ravishing on both the verses and the choruses. This is another case where I really didn't care much for the rest of the album, but this track is memorable.


13. Motionless in White - "Not My Type: Dead As Fuck 2"

This is a hard-rocking (well, over-the-top, anyway) ode to necrophilia, as lead singer Chris Motionless explains, "If she's got a pulse, then she's not my type". The band's tongue is firmly embedded in their cheek for this one (and also in some less savory places that I won't go into). Completely silly and fun.


12. Said the Whale - "Step Into the Darkness"

This is another tasty alternapop anthem with a fetching pop hook. To quote my own album review re/this song, "On this track, the singer hears his lady love singing a song about 'Live long for the sweet light.' He starts to sing with her, but it feels wrong, 'Singing that song when the darkness feels so right.'" Good stuff.


11. Greywind - "Afterthoughts"

This is the title track from the debut album by this Irish sister/brother band. It's a rocky number, which sort of gives singer Steph O'Sullivan a good excuse to show off her pipes. And show them off she does. Her voice possesses a happy combination of beauty and power, and both of those attributes are on full display here.


So that's it for Part 1 of this list. I'll be back in a day or so to give you Part 2.

Top 10 Albums of 2017

Moving right along from yesterday's list, today I present my Top 10 Albums of 2017 overall.

A brief reminder of the rules as to what constitutes an "album": It has to be an LP of seven songs or more, or at least 30 minutes in length (so EPs are ineligible); and it has to be all by one artist -- no compilations allowed. As I stated yesterday, this year, digital-only releases were allowed. So, for example, although it didn't make this list, an album like Passion Pit's Tremendous Sea of Love was considered, even though they never released it on CD.

Also, a reminder to my blog readers: While I always post my CD reviews on the Sputnik Music site first, and post them here afterwards, for reviews of live concerts and shows, and for my end of the year lists, they're released first here on my blog. Later, they're usually posted (albeit in a much more abbreviated form) as a list on Sputnik Music.

I'll give you a couple of quick honorable mentions here that just missed this list: 1) British musician Barns Courtney with his debut album Attractions of Youth; and 2) Aussie electro dance band Cut Copy with their fifth studio album, Haiku From Zero.

So, let's see how many of our albums by local artists from yesterday's list made this one also. Here they are, in reverse order:


Top 10 Albums of 2017:


10.  Neil Cavanagh - City of the Sun, Valley of the Moon

Again, this is such a beautiful album. And while I talked about "The Gates of Crocheron Park" yesterday, I'd be remiss if I didn't throw a mention of the equally lovely "On a Sunday Afternoon", and the instrumental version of that same song, "Sunday Evening". Makes me proud to be a fellow Queens boy.


9. Wolf Alice - Visions of a Life

Wolf Alice is a female-fronted British alt rock band from North London. I think I first became aware of them from hearing John from the YouTube channel ARTV talking them up, and he was right. They go through a variety of styles on this album. As for lead singer Ellie Rowsell, she can shriek with the best of them, and sing a nice ballad as well. My favorite song on here is the album opener, "Heavenward".


8. Lorde - Melodrama

This album from the New Zealand no-longer-teen sensation Lorde has received a ton of accolades, and rightly so. If all you're familiar with are the singles from this LP, you're missing out. There are a bunch of great songs on here. The number that most blew me away is "Liability". It's an absolutely devastating portrait of a lonely girl who always find herself  used and then dumped, because "You're a little much for me." So good.


7. Greywind - Afterthoughts

I reviewed this one early last year. This is the debut album by a fairly heavy brother-sister band (Paul and Steph O'Sullivan) from a small town in Ireland. She has a voice that's ridiculously powerful and gorgeous. Even the album art for this release is first-rate. Once again, the best track is the first one, which is also the album's title track. There are some excellent rock power ballads on here.


6. Aimee Mann - Mental Illness

This is another album I reviewed early in 2017. It's perhaps Aimee Mann's most stark album ever, and to me, her best one since 2005's The Forgotten Arm. Mann is probably the best singer-songwriter out there these days. I know I'm getting predictable, but yes, the best track is once again the first one, "Goose Snow Cone". (And if you're a cat person, the video for this song might make you cry.)


5. Brand New - Science Fiction

Their last album, 2009's Daisy, came in at #2 on my Top 10 Albums list of that year. That one felt like being inside the mind of a serial killer. This album is more like an episode of The X-Files, complete with possible alien abduction and experimentation. And guess what -- my favorite track here isn't the first one. It's track #6, a little ditty called "137".


4. Matisyahu - Undercurrent

If you're unsettled by listening to the Brand New album, this one will help center you again. You might not hear much about the "Reggae Rabbi" (as he used to be known) on the national scene anymore, but it doesn't mean that Matisyahu has stopped creating beautiful music. His last album, 2014's Akeda, made my Top 10 list for that year, and this one is equally good.


3. Mostly Autumn - Sight of Day

I reviewed this album by the British folky prog rock band Mostly Autumn midway through the year in 2017. They're a band I learned about from fellow prog rock fans on Sputnik Music, and given that they've been recording since 1999, this is a case of "Where have you guys been all my life?". The band mixes Celtic influences into their music, always a plus for me, and features quality male and female lead vocalists. Favorite track here: "Once Around the Sun", which has a little bit of a Kansas flavor to it (the band, not the state).


2. The Flaming Lips - Oczy Mlody

I admit, I kind of lost track of this Oklahoma City psychedelic rock band after 2002's excellent Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots album, and now I can't think why. Regardless, the fantasy themes of this album made me check this one out, and I'm glad I did. There are references to fairies and witches and frogs with demon eyes throughout this excellent work, but my favorite track here is "There Should Be Unicorns", a song wherein they explain that they're referring to "The ones with the purple eyes, not the ones with the green eyes. Whatever they give them, they shit everywhere." OK.


1. The Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir

What else can I say about this one -- it's a songwriting Tour de Force. In addition to the tracks I mentioned yesterday, here are some more to check out: "Be True to Your Bar"; "Hustle 76", "The Blizzard of 78"; "Come Back As a Cockroach"; "Lovers' Lies"; "Me and Fred and Dave and Ted"; and "Weird Diseases". God (or whomever - insert your own deity here) Bless Stephin Merritt.


So that rounds out my Top Albums of 2017 list. Again, I hope maybe this encourages you to check out something on here you haven't heard before.


I'll be back in a few days with my "Top 20 Songs of 2017" list. Some of the songs I've mentioned here will doubtlessly make it there as well, but I can also promise you some surprises.

In the meantime, I've got a bunch of concerts coming up in February and March which I'll write about, and hopefully I'll also see and review the musical Once at the John W Engeman in Northport. And, as always, I'll keep the album reviews coming. My upcoming review schedule includes some Moody Blues, some Blackmore's Night, a little Ultravox and some Black 47 (which I'll be trying to time to post right around St. Patrick's Day), as well as some new 2018 stuff.

Peace out, folks.

Top 10 Local Albums of 2017

Well, it's that time of the year again, when I (finally) post my Best Of music lists for 2017.

I'm still working through my Top 20 Songs list -- finalizing what tracks to include, and what order to put them in. But I've got my album lists together, so I'm going to go ahead and start posting them, and hopefully, I'll be done with my Songs list by the end of this week.

I left myself a good suggestion when I did last year's lists, and that was to reverse my previous practice, and post my Top 10 Local Albums list before my Top 10 Albums. The reason for this is suspense: If I post my Top 10 Albums list first, it's pretty obvious that any local albums that are on it are going to also make my Top 10 Local Albums list as well. If I do it the other way around, you have no way to tell how many, if any, of these albums will be also make the Top 10 Albums overall. I don't think I've ever had a year when none of my Top 10 Local Albums made the overall Best Albums list, but who knows, this year could be the first time. Last year, there was only one album that made both lists, although it happened that that one was also #1 on both (it was Bayside's Vacancy album). And even if the top few albums on this list also make the overall list, you won't know how high they are by reading this one first, so we'll reserve a little mystery.

A few words about the rules, as I've changed them a little this year. What is eligible: It has to be a full-length album of at least 7 songs (unless you've got one or more epic-length songs). No EPs. It also has to be all by one artist -- no compilations. The change is that this year, for the first time, I've had to grudgingly change with the times. While I still greatly, greatly (did I say greatly?) prefer hard copies of an album on CD, this year, if there was an album by an artist I really felt needed to be included for consideration, and there was nothing available to me but a digital copy, I've allowed it be included. I'm less likely to take a flyer on a digital-only album for an artist I'm not familiar with, or one I'm only so-so on. But I realize that it's much cheaper for bands and artists to release a digital album than it is to press a bunch of CDs, and I know that as the years go by, more and more albums will be released in digital-only versions. So reluctant as I am to do so, this year, some digital-only albums have been included.

In 2017, I listened to almost 95 albums to put together these lists, not counting EPs and compilations, which is ridiculous -- I'm really planning to cut that number down in 2018. I tried to include a variety of genres, but my tastes are what they are -- I like classical, but no classical albums were included. I don't much like pure hip-hop or jazz -- I just don't enjoy/understand those genres -- and this year, no pure jazz or hip-hop was included (although certainly some jazz and hip-hop influenced rock was.) I listened to a few metal or metalish albums this year, but none of them made either of my Top Album lists. I did listen to some country or country-rock albums in 2017. But the majority of the new albums I listened to this past year fell somewhere on the rock/alternative/folk/pop spectrum.

As for the definition of the word "local", I try to keep it very loose. For the purposes of picking a Top 10 Local Albums list, here's what I consider "local": 1. Long Island, for sure; 2. The 5 boroughs of NY (especially Brooklyn, where a lot of Long Island bands have run off to); 3. Sometimes Jersey or a little ways upstate, if the mood takes me. (I'm not giving away money or anything, so I kind of get to make up the rules as I go along). Also, if a band or artist spent a decent amount of time living on and playing on Long Island or in the City in the past, they get to qualify, even if they've moved to another area of the country.

My overall feeling is that 2017 was a strong year for music, stronger certainly than 2016. Consequently, because each album list only has ten slots, a lot of very good albums fell by the wayside this year. In terms of this Top 10 Local Albums of 2017, there were at least ten other albums I would have been proud to have on this list. I briefly considered expanding it to a Top 20 list, but 1) I don't need to make more work for myself, and 2) My experience is that that's not the case every year -- 2017 happened to be exceptional. So I kept the Top 10 format.

So without further blathering ... um, I mean ado ...here, in reverse order, are my Top 10 Local Albums of 2017:

Top 10 Local Albums of 2017

10. Pete Mancini - Foothill Freeway

Pete is the lead singer/songwriter of the local Americana band Butchers Blind. This is his first solo album. He's a good songwriter with a great voice. He's got some terrific tracks on here, the best of them being the song that leads off the album, "Sweethearts of the Rodeo", a catchy country-tinged tune that city (and suburban) folks can enjoy as well.

9. Gogol Bordello - Seekers and Finders

This is a "gypsy-punk" band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan that has been in existence since the late '90s. They played out here once last year at The Space in Westbury, but unfortunately I missed them. The band mixes gypsy, punk and dub, and incorporates accordions and violins into their music. This is their tenth studio album, and it's fast-paced and filled with examples of their unique sense of humor.

8. The Nancy Atlas Project - Cut and Run

The Nancy Atlas Project is a band from the East End of Long Island that can often be found playing venues like The Stephen Talkhouse. They're basically an Americana/countryish band, but they mix in some other styles on this album, including Hawaiian. The best song here, though, is a seven-minute-long sea shanty that tells a stirring (and true) story about the rescue of a missing fisherman, called "The Tale of Johnny Load".

7. The Movielife - Cities in Search of a Heart

This album marks the welcome return after a 14-year absence of the Baldwin pop punk band The Movielife. Normally, I lean towards melodic voices rather than gruff ones, but somehow the projects of lead singer Vinny Caruano (who's also the lead singer for I Am the Avalanche) always seem to end up on my Top 10 lists. My favorite song here is a track called "Lake Superior".

6. Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, James McAlister - Planetarium

This is a concept album written by composer Nico Muhly that was originally commissioned by a Dutch concert hall. Muhly collaborated with Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens and Bryce Dessner, the guitarist for The National. (McAister is the drummer from Stevens' touring band).  The music is mostly low-key and atmospheric, and all of the songs are inspired by the various planets, moons and stars of the solar system. Many of them also incorporate bits of Greek and Roman mythology.

5. Torres - Three Futures

Torres (aka MacKenzie Scott) is a Brooklyn-based indie artist (originally from Georgia) with a chocolate-rich voice. Her 2015 album Sprinter made my Top 10 Local Albums list from that year. Her music is often quiet but intense. She doesn't fit into the traditional singer/songwriter mold -- there's a lot of synth included in her songs. My favorite track on here is an ardent-but-restrained number called "Righteous Woman".

4. Neil Cavanagh - City of the Sun, Valley of the Moon

I reviewed this album on this blog a few weeks ago. Neil is a Queens/Long Island native who loves to experiment with guitar and synthesizer sounds. He wrote, performed, recorded, mixed and mastered this project himself. It's a great album full of amiable psychedelic rock sounds that makes me think of Todd Rundgren. My favorite track is a gentle ode to a place I remember well from my own childhood, "The Gates of Crocheron Park".

3. Brand New - Science Fiction

Yes, these guys have gotten a lot of bad press lately for a scandal allegedly involving the sexual exploitation of a minor by lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Jesse Lacey, and given that this was intended to be the band's farewell song anyway, I doubt we'll be hearing from them again. But basing my appraisal of the LP solely on the music, this album is a stunning achievement, especially given that the band has been MIA for the last eight years. It bounces back and forth from quiet and creepy to manic and frightening in a heartbeat, and it plays like something of a nightmare that you can't wake up from. If they had to go, this was a great swan song.

2. Matisyahu - Undercurrent

This is an album I reviewed over the summer by former Brooklynite (and White Plains native) Matisyahu. It's a very spiritual work that mixes elements of reggae, hip-hop, jam rock and jazz that was created by gradually honing a series of improvisational songs into a more coherent whole. It's a work of great musical depth and positive energy. My favorite track here is the first one, "Step Out Into the Light".

1. The Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir

I consider Stephin Merritt to be one of the best songwriters of our age, and this album is a dazzling return to form for him. It's a five-disc, 50-song concept album that features one song for every year of Merritt's life. I'll admit, I was almost dreading this project beforehand, because I wasn't sure if the man still had it in him to pull off something this ambitious, but I was wrong. I can't claim that every song is a winner, but the percentage of good songs to throwaways is high, and with tracks like "A Cat Called Dionysius", "Have You Seen It in the Snow?" and "A Serious Mistake", this is clearly this band's best album since the equally impressive 69 Love Songs in 1999.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this list. I hope that maybe you see something interesting here that you weren't necessarily familiar with and that you check it out.

Coming tomorrow (hopefully), my overall Top 10 Albums of 2017. Will some of these albums make that list as well? Read it and find out.

 

Review of Waterparks' "Entertainment"

I posted this review a few minutes on the Sputnik Music site:

Review Summary: I don't love this album, even though I really wanted to.

In 2016, I was a big Waterparks defender. While some maligned the Houston pop-punk band's debut album Double Dare as unsophisticated and depthless, I argued that music doesn't always have to be complex to be worth something. There's something to be said for the simple enjoyment of a good pop hook, and "fun" shouldn't be a dirty word for music. But here I am in 2018 reviewing the band's newest release Entertainment, and I'm finding this one harder to defend. I know that Waterparks has had a hectic performing schedule over the last two years, and I read an interview with lead singer Awsten Knight where he explained that the recording process for this LP had to be jammed into a single month. However, the trouble here seems to me to be more than just a case of a band being too rushed. Some critics have argued that what's different from the last album to this one is simply a matter of a pop punk band going in more of a "pop" than a "punk" direction for one album. Maybe, but it feels like more than that. To me, the problem is that Entertainment feels dumbed down, almost like the band made a deliberate decision to shoot for a younger demographic.

Mind you, I'm not saying that the album is terrible. I still like Waterparks' basic sound. Yes, Awsten Knight is vaguely helium-voiced, but I think that works for this genre -- it never hurt Blink-182. And I enjoy the way he constantly tries to cram ten pounds worth of words into a five-pound lyric line. As for the instrumentation, there's a lot of use of synths, and I'm good with that -- particularly since so many pop punk bands tend to go with all guitars. 

I think the problem here is twofold. First, in comparison to Double Dare or the 2016 Cluster EP, I find the songs themselves just a tad less interesting musically. In too many cases, the hooks aren't grabbing me as much. What's really hitting me in the face, though, is how trite some of the lyrics are. It might seem strange, since I quote lyrics so often in my reviews, but I'm not really a lyrics guy. I tend to let them blow past me, unless they're either particularly clever, or jarringly bad. And some of the lyrics here made me wince. 

For example, in the opening track "11/11" we find this line: "My favorite set of stairs is the one up to your room". Really? You have a favorite set of stairs? What's your favorite ceiling fan? Then there are the cliched rhymes, like this little gem from "Rare": "'Cause we're not seventeen/But you're my teenage dream". Didn't ABBA kind of pull the cord on that one about forty years ago? If it sounds like I'm nitpicking, I'm not trying to. It's just that lyrics like this forced themselves to my attention the first time I listened to this album, and once I started to notice them, I couldn't not hear them.

There are definitely some things I like about this LP. I enjoyed songs like "Peach (Lobotomy)", a nice mid-tempo number with some pleasantly strummed guitar and interesting use of whistling, and "Not Warriors", with its catchy chorus. And "TANTRUM", which is the musical equivalent of a nervous breakdown, isn't just the liveliest song here, it also has the best and most sincere-feeling lyrics on the album (for example: "I'm getting texts from idols I've looked up to since 15/But now people use my friends to try to get to me, fuck you.") Even a few of the songs where the lyrics make me cringe have some good things going on instrumentally. I love the synth pattern underlying "11/11", and the guitar chords on "Lucky People" might not be unique, but they make me nod along and smile. And as I mentioned, I like the vocals throughout. 

It's just the little pet peeves that keep me from fully enjoying this album. Like the too-often joltingly bad lyrics. Or the boring album art. Or the way the opening chords on the song "Rare" are just a little too reminiscent of the opening chords on the Gwen Stefani song of the same name(!) from her 2016 This Is What the Truth Feels Like LP. These are the things that make me want to go all Lewis Black and throw a "TANTRUM" of my own.

I still like Waterparks. I'd happily see them live again if given the opportunity. And I don't hate this album. It's just that I don't love it either, and I really wanted to.


Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars