I don’t know if Taylor Swift has a Dirty Computer or Karuki Zaamen Kuri no Hana in her, but it feels like she’s tip-toeing in that direction. I doubt she’d ever go fully weird because her branding is too big to fail.
Judy Tenuta, Buy This, Pigs!
I’ve known about Judy Tenuta since high school, but my media consumption somehow managed never to cross paths with her stand-up. YouTube has since rectified that, and upon hearing the news of her passing, I felt compelled to seek out her comedy debut album, which has so far never been reissued on CD or fully digitized on a streaming platform.
Huey Lewis and the News, Picture This
Sports is the 800-pound gorilla in the Huey Lewis and the News oeuvre, but Picture This is no slouch either. I rather thank it’s been unfairly overshadowed by its immediate descendant.
Hajime Chitose, Shima Kyora Umui
It’s taken me 20 years to purchase an actual physical copy of this album. Hajime’s major label career has mostly ignored these earlier youthful recordings, but they’re super informative on her singing style, let alone how well she adapted it to a pop setting.
Royal Wood, What Tomorrow Brings
Wood calls this album the first he’s didn’t abandon, paraphrasing the quote: “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” It definitely shows. He makes some slight but adventurous tweaks to his sound, incorporating more synths and drum machines without losing his folk crooner vibe.
Miami Sound Machine, Primitive Love
The singles from this album were ubiquitous at the time, which dissuaded both my brother and me from staking claim on it. Enough time has passed to reveal those singles to be incredibly durable and fitting well with the album on the whole.
The Dismemberment Plan, Emergency & I
You kinda need to have this album if you remotely like Changes.
A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.
The 2014 list has already gone through one revision, and this version expands it slightly.
D’Angelo and the Vanguard, Black Messiah
John Luther Adams, Become Ocean
Sturgill Simpson, Metamodern Sounds of Country Music
Royal Wood, The Burning Bright
The Bad Plus, The Rite of Spring
Meredith Monk, Piano Songs
Inventions, Inventions
MONO, Rays of Darkness
Shiina Ringo, Gyakuyunyuu ~Kouwankyoku~
BADBADNOTGOOD, III
Other favorites from the year:
Juanes, Loco de Amor
The Drums, Encyclopedia
Cocco, Plan C
Shaprece, Molting EP
Huck Hodge, Life Is Endless Like Our Field of Vision
Taylor Swift, 1989
Sam Amidon, Lily-O
U2, Songs of Innocence
The year started with Juanes topping the list. He’s now been bumped off the Favorite 10 in favor of BADBADNOTGOOD. Despite that change, the Favorite 10 is pretty solid. The remaining list, however, has expanded to include The Drums and Taylor Swift.
You read that right.
I’ve been curious about 1989 for a while, but I felt no desire to stream it. Yet, a thrift store copy selling for $2 was more incentive to check it out. I wonder why that is? I ended up liking it more than I thought I would.
The Drums’ Encyclopedia didn’t start out as a favorite, but when I stopped expecting it to be a carbon copy of the self-titled debut, its strengths became apparent. That said, it’s really a strange album.
The last addition to the list is an album by Huck Hodge, a University of Washington music composition professor from whom I took a number of classes. I actually heard most of this album in class, so it made sense to own a copy of it.
![[Carlos Ponce - Carlos Ponce]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CarlosPonceCarlosPonce1311994J30D_f.jpg)
![[Taylor Swift - Midnights]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/TaylorSwiftMidnights2022305009_f.jpg)
![[Chris Isaak - San Francisco Days]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ChrisIsaakSanFranciscoDa197723_f.jpg)
![[Hajime Chitose - Shima Kyora Umui]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/HajimeChitoseShimaKyoraUmui.jpg)
![[Bad Brains - Bad Brains]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/BadBrainsBadBrains1996225253_f.jpg)
![[Keola and Kapono Beamer - Honolulu City Lights]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/KeolaBeamerKaponoBeamer249035_f-300x300.jpg)
![[The National - Boxer]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/TheNationalBoxer2007196415_f-300x300.jpg)
![[Various Artists - Rubáiyát]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/VariousArtistsRubaiyatD58690_f-300x260.jpg)
![[Everything But the Girl - Amplified Heart]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/EverythingButTheGirlAmpl2111322OHD_f-300x300.jpg)
![[Huck Hodge - Life Is Endless Like Our Field of Vision]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/HuckHodgeLifeIsEndlessL191855G0EF_f.jpg)