A Subway TV ad introduced me to Charlie Puth. And I haven’t been able to stop playing this album since.
Mandy Barnett, A Nashville Songbook
Barnett released “It’s Now or Never” as a single, and I can’t say I was a fan. I even made an uncharitable prediction about whether this album would work. Then I heard it in full, and the song selection is impeccable — “The End of the World”, “Love Hurts”, “I Love a Rainy Night”. Perhaps the apex of this songbook is “The Crying Game”.
The Streets, None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive
Mike Skinner’s first two albums loom large, but this return after a nearly decade absence stands up to that legacy.
The Chicks, Gaslighter
A friend of mine had an extra copy, so I took it. It’s my first ever (Dixie) Chicks album. If I get curious enough, I can pick up Fly or Wide Open Spaces from the thrift shop.
Julius Eastman, Unjust Malaise
Julius Eastman was post-minimalist at a time when his minimalist colleagues were still minimalizing.
I started running out of things to say just as the SARS-CoV2 spread in the US, and when the lockdown happened, I threw myself into recording a pair of cover albums. I wasn’t buying much music, nor listening to anyone other than myself. By the time I finished making the albums, stores were opening up, and my music buying eventually resumed.
But I still don’t have much to say.
That doesn’t mean I’ve run out of opinions. So here are my favorites of the year so far.
New releases
Sam Sparro, Boombox Eternal
Timo Andres / Brad Mehldau / Jeremy Denk / Randy Newman, I Still Play
Perfume Genius, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
Jason Isbell and 400 Unit, Reunions
The Streets, None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive
Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
… And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories
![[Electric Light Orchestra - Time]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ElectricLightOrchestraTim278714_f.jpg)
![[Explosions in the Sky - Big Bend]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ExplosionsInTheSkyBigBe274174CQPN_f.jpg)
![[PJ Harvey - Dry]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/PJHarveyDry1992256439_f-300x300.jpg)
![[Eponymous 4 - Shinkyoku Moratorium Nihongohan]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Eponymous4ShinkyokuMoratoriumNihongohan-300x300.jpg)
![[Charlie Puth - Voicenotes]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CharliePuthVoicenotes201237260_f-300x300.jpg)
![[Sam Sparro - Boombox Eternal]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SamSparroBoomboxEternal-300x300.jpg)
![[Heart - Greatest Hits / Live]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/HeartGreatestHitsLive237565_f-300x289.jpg)