CD Odyssey Disc 1800: Montrose

Wow – 1800 reviews. Whouda thunk it? But we didn’t get here resting on our laurels, so let’s get right at it.

Disc 1800 is…Warner Bros. Presents…Montrose!

Artist: Montrose

Year of Release: 1975

What’s up with the Cover? This cover looks like the best…motion picture…ever!

I imagine the plot of the film is that a fantasy-based alternate dimension somehow collides with regular earth (that’s us). Castles and mythical creatures collide with city streets and business folks. Mayhem ensues!

Our hero and heroine are depicted in the bottom right of the frame, likely some time before our heroine is grabbed by that twenty-foot-tall dragon/demon/lizard thing.

How did she go from wearing that practical long-sleeved shirt to that not-at-all-apocalypse-friendly tiny slip and heels? To learn that, friends, you’ll have to go see the film. Race for the ticket window with the same wild abandon that crowd is fleeing dragon/demon/lizard guy and find out more!

How I Came To Know It: I learned about Montrose from my friend Spence, who is very much into (and knowledgeable about) seventies rock bands. He also has good taste, so when he makes a recommendation, I tend to follow up.

Doing so unveiled a “five in one” CD box set of Montrose records at my local record store, the third of which was “Warner Bros. Presents Montrose!”

What about the first two in the set, you ask? Well, it wouldn’t be much of a randomly selected experience if I went chronologically. Next you’re going to ask me to use the alphabet. No I shall not, sir! (or madam)! Random or death!

How It Stacks Up: I have five Montrose records. I just got them and it is hard to say for which is the best, but based on early listening, I’ll put “Warner Bros. Presents…” in at #3.

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

When a rock band is named after the lead guitar player, it is usually a sign you are going to get exposed to a lot of guitar action. For that to work, that guitar action better be really good.

This was doubly important on “Warner Bros. Presents” given that our guitar hero – Ronnie Montrose – had just lost his charismatic frontman Sammy Hagar, and this record was their first with replacement singer Bob James. Could Montrose rise to the challenge?

The answer is…yes! While overall I slightly prefer Montrose’s first two “Hagar” records, there is a lot to love about “Warner Bros. Presents…” and it all starts – unsurprisingly – with Ronnie Montrose’s skills on the axe.

In a word, wow. This record features a LOT of guitar work. Some slow, some fast, but all of it played with passion and precision, as Montrose knocks out mid-seventies hard rock classics. Does it sometimes stray into that blues boogie rock you might expect from Molly Hatchet? Sure it does, but I like Molly Hatchet.

Ronnie Montrose is hell-bent to show he can play rock guitar in ALL THE WAYS. The opening track “Matriarch” is a straight up galloping banger (with assist to bassist Alan Fitzgerald), you’re only about a third of the way in before Ronnie busts out his first mind-bending solo. Great tone, great control and not just about being fast.

Next up is “All I Need” which starts out with a gentle bit of picking to show Montrose is also sensitive n’ stuff. But sensitive shouldn’t be confused with soft, and when the chorus hits, the growl returns with a riff so crunchy the roof of your mouth will be tender the next morning from chewing on it.

The album’s epic ‘DJ gets a pee break’ song is “Whaler” a moody bit of ocean mystery, where the haze could be an ocean mist across the slick deck of a boat, or just someone not rolling the window down in the Malibu. Montrose lends a sprung rhythm to his playing here, which brings a disjointed beauty. Later, when you’re not sure it can get stranger, there is some creepy but welcome keyboard action to prove it can.

While a lot of this record is Montrose showing off his mad skills, I would be remiss not to give some love to newcomer Bob James. Bob’s vocals are classic mid-seventies rock star, with that plaintive head voice that soars up, around, and through the musicality of the rest of the band. James was plucked from a Montrose cover band, and while that could’ve resulted in a “by the numbers” type experience he rises to the challenge as an original frontman. He doesn’t make you forget Sammy Hagar, but he makes the switch smooth and enjoyable.

The record isn’t perfect, and there is some hokey action salted through the experience. The lyrics on “Dancing Feet” and “Clown Woman” are so bad that no amount of Montrose guitar action or James vocal acrobatics can make things right.

Overall though these moments are outweighed by a balls-out, rock and roll record in the stye that your mom and dad used to like. And you can like it too.

Best tracks: Matriarch, All I Need, Whaler, O Lucky Man

CD Odyssey Disc 1799: The White Stripes

What I review is randomly selected, which means an album can get reviewed right after I buy it, or many years later. This next album has been kicking around for a long time, but the dice gods finally selected it.

Disc 1799 is…Self-Titled

Artist: The White Stripes

Year of Release: 2002

What’s up with the Cover? “Red and white is our thing”. In 1999 we didn’t know how far they’d ride that aesthetic. Turns out, pretty much the whole way.

How I Came To Know It: I’d like to brag that I was with the White Stripes from the beginning, but the truth is I discovered them along with most other people when they released their third album, “Elephant” in 2003. I immediately dug backward and made up for lost time, finding this record in the process.

How It Stacks Up: I have six White Stripes albums, which is all of them. Of those six I had reserved fifth spot for their eponymous debut, but I liked it too much for that, so I’m bumping Icky Thump out of fourth. This is my last White Stripes review, so as is tradition here on the Odyssey, here’s the full recap:

1. De Stijl: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 753)
2. Elephant: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 251)
3. White Blood Cells: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 126)
4. Self-Titled: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
5. Icky Thump: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1499)
6. Get Behind Me Satan: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 577)

 Ratings: 4 stars

Jack White didn’t save rock and roll, but he did throw a bucket of water on it while it was sleeping, poured three shots of bourbon down its throat, and told it in no uncertain terms, “enough of this resting on your laurels - we’re hitting the bars.” 1999’s eponymous debut of his (and Meg White’s) band the White Stripes is where it all began.

While many artists of this era were trying to make production decisions to make things sound louder, the White Stripes redefined what loud could be. Jack White’s guitar, now universally lauded and emulated (but never duplicated), is a revelation. He doesn’t play the guitar he attacks it like Charles Bukowski attacks a poem – raw and violently, like it’s a heavyweight fight of the bare knuckles variety.

At its core, this record is, like a lot of rock music, a blues album. White even provides a Rosetta Stone to translate for the newly initiated with two blues covers, Robert Johnson’s “Stop Breaking Down” and “St. James Infirmary Blues”. Both turn the crunch and gravel up to 11, supercharging these age-old tunes and making you hear them again for the first time. I have four different versions of “Stop Breaking Down” and with apologies to Lucinda Williams, the Rolling Stones and Mr. Johnson himself, the White Stripes do it best.

“Stop Breaking Down” is the second of a trio of songs (along with “Jimmy the Exploder” and “The Big Three Killed My Baby”) that open the record. That three song attack (for you will feel attacked) is so ferocious it almost killed me as well.

That’s what you can expect in large degree for the whole record. Screeching, yawling guitars chugging forward with a primal but deliberate fury. There are White Stripes albums that I like more (see list above) but I’m not sure there are any that match the visceral oomph of the debut. It feels like Jack has spent his whole life vibrating with the need to shout his truth and then someone put a guitar in his hand and said, “speak with this.”

Most of the songs are White Stripes originals, but in addition to the blues covers they take a turn at Bob Dylan, with a cover of “One More Cup of Coffee”. I can’t say this is better than the original (having Emmylou Harris on backing vocals gives Dylan the unfair advantage) but it is damn good.

I have a bass player friend who hates the White Stripes (they have no bass player, so the hatred is easily traced), but with apologies to bass players everywhere, you don’t miss it here. Jack has it all covered and anything he misses Meg is there to pick up on the drums.

In addition to blues influences, the White Stripes bring punk rock sensibilities to the music, getting on a song, thrashing it out of their system, and moving on, most often in under three minutes. Ordinarily I have a rule that no record should have more than 14 songs. The White Stripes have 17, but the album still clocks in at a restrained 44 minutes, so I mostly forgive the transgression.

I play the album while I’m reviewing it, and when I first started writing this review I found it hard to concentrate. At first I wondered if it might have been the previous night’s rum and cokes, or maybe a lack of coffee, but it was that the record kept demanding my immediate and total attention. I had to turn it down just to get a thought in edgewise.

That’s OK if you need to write something, but generally the White Stripes should be played loud. Let it sink into your guts and bones where it belongs.

Best tracks: Jimmy the Exploder, Stop Breaking Down, The Big Three Killed My Baby, Wasting My Time, Astro, Screwdriver, One More Cup of Coffee, I Fought Piranhas

CD Odyssey Disc 1798: Holly Williams

Being the child of a famous artist does not exclude you from being successful in your own right and so I never judge an artist based on who their parents (or grandparents) are. I do judge them on whether I like the music though. That is literally what we do here.

OK, on with this review…

Disc 1798 is…Here With Me

Artist: Holly Williams

Year of Release: 2009

What’s up with the Cover? A gal and her guitar.

This picture looks very much like it was taken in a photography studio. Holly’s looking to the side, I imagine at a family of four that are in for their annual Christmas shot. Holly’s appointment is over, and her time is running over their 2:30 time slot.

The dad is testy and thinking about the prospect of the meter running out, but he’s slightly mollified that the person holding them up looks good in that dress. The mom is thinking she’d like to find out where that fancy guitar woman got her boots (and maybe giving her husband a bit of side-eye; half because he’s being all testy about the parking again; half for the other reason). The little girl is thinking about how much longer she’s going to have to endure those dress shoes and the little boy is thinking likewise, and also has to pee.

Holly’s just thinking “who are theses people and where did they get those hideous sweaters?” Hence the look on her face.

If you don’t give me a cover inspiration, I’m forced to write my own…

How I Came To Know It: I originally discovered Holly Williams through her more famous brother, Hank Williams III. Hearing there was another Williams family singer-songwriter I checked her out.

I didn’t buy the record for the longest time but recently saw it in my local record store at a good price. Since I was playing with house money anyway (gift card) I picked it up.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Holly Williams album, so it has nothing to stack up against.

Ratings: 2 stars but almost 3

I have a rule that any album I purchase must get a minimum of three listens, and at least two of those have to be consecutive. It’s a rule my friend Spence passed down to me years ago and it keeps you from making snap judgments on a new record. It also ensures you are actually listening to new music and not just collecting it. 

I guess I’m saying if music were an action figure, I think you should take it out of the package and play with it.

This turned out to be a lucky turn of events for Holly Williams, as I liked what I heard a little more on each successive listen, and while after three it was over the “shelf worthy” line, I don’t expect the fourth to propel it to greatness.

This is because a lot of what makes this record good keeps it from being great. It makes all the right decisions on multiple fronts, but it only has a few “wow” moments.

Holly Williams vocals are strong, with a rich tone that she fits well in the folk/country style the record is made in. She mixes in head voice and a bit of whisper here and there to good effect. There are places where I wanted a bit more hurt and harm in the experience, but I don’t put that on the vocal performance, which is excellent.

Similarly, the arrangements are well chosen, and work hard to give the record dynamics and a good mix of style and tempo to hold your ear. A bit of guitar here, a bit of piano there, mixed up so your ear never gets tired. Strip it down, build it up again, and clear everything out but the voice for maximum emotional gravitas at key moments. It is pop trickery 101, but pop trickery works!

My let down was mostly on the lyrical side. The songs are heartfelt and honest, but I found myself wishing for stronger imagery or failing that, stronger narratives. The songs are about good country fare – an ode to a wonderful mom, songs about love and being road weary - it is all there. It has that country quality where you can often predict the rhyme, but sometimes the ear wants a bit of a surprise. It’s a thin line in country music, but its there. Dreams that feel so real, being loved even when your hair is unkempt. Nothing wrong here, but no gut punch.

Well, not none. The record has some gems on it, and the best of them all is “Three Days in Bed”, a song about fleeing your regular life, meeting a stranger in Paris and spending…well…three days in bed with them.

This song has that rare and critical element to songwriting – the tension of opposites. Williams deftly shows how a spontaneous act of will and wanton desire can bring an unexpected calm to a life otherwise in turmoil. It’s the moment of freedom where you don’t do those chores right away, but put them off and have a second cup of coffee. Except, you know, with sex.

As a sidebar, it reminded me strongly of Lucinda Williams’ brilliant “Those Three Days” but with a way happier and optimistic ending. Play them one after the other, and pick the order based on whether you need an angry wallow (Lucinda) or a wistful pick-me-up (Holly).

The best part of the record for me was the realization that my three favourite songs (“Three Days in Bed”, “Alone” and “Without Jesus Here With Me”) are all Holly Williams originals. She writes almost everything, but most are cowritten. Those ones are fine enough, but nothing to order a second daquiri over. The ones that really grabbed and held my attention were 100% Holly.

So good on you, Holly. The record has its ups and downs, but the best parts were all you.

Best tracks: Three Days in Bed, Alone, Without Jesus Here With Me

CD Odyssey Disc 1797: The Rolling Stones

The old question of “Beatles or the Rolling Stones” never held much water for me, and I typically reply with a flippant (but wholly accurate) quip of “Black Sabbath.”

However, it is also true that my love for the Rolling Stones has been a slow but steady burner over the years, and it all started with this little compilation record.

Disc 1797 is…Hot Rocks 1964-1971

Artist: The Rolling Stones

Year of Release: 1971

What’s up with the Cover? Long-time readers of my blog will know of my fascination for the Giant Head Cover, where an artist chooses as their cover…their Giant Head.

Here the Rolling Stones have come up with a clever way to make the album cover not one but five Giant Heads each more Giant than the last.

How I Came To Know It: When I was a teenager there was a thing called Columbia House where you ordered 11 cassette tapes for 11 cents. After that, you had to spend a year picking an album a month off a little folded pamphlet they’d mail you, and if you didn’t pick fast enough, they sent you something random (and subsequently billed you).

For a music-lovin’ kid living 20 miles north of what was already an isolated town with limited record stores, this was a pretty great deal, so I did it for a while. When I ran out of albums I wanted (this happens fairly quickly in the Columbia House experience) I cancelled my subscription.

In any event, “Hot Rocks” was one of my early choices, and my first meaningful exposure to the Rolling Stones outside of the radio. I liked it plenty, but when I converted from tapes to CDs I never replaced this one, instead – armed with increased purchasing power – I collected my favourite studio albums instead. To see what those are, check out my final studio album review, which includes the list.

Eventually, I realized that while that covered the majority of my love for the Rolling Stones, there were a bunch of earlier singles on Hot Rocks that I was missing, some of which weren’t even on a studio album. I succumbed and bought this album, mostly for Disc 1 (Record One for you vinyl types).

How It Stacks Up: Compilation albums do not get stacked on A Creative Maelstrom, because they are not real records. They are convenient ways to get a bunch of songs if you are too lazy or disinterested in the band’s catalogue. This is an entirely legitimate decision to make, as some bands may only rate a “best of” level in your preference, but that don’t make compilations a proper record, so no stacking!

Ratings: Compilations don’t get rated either. They do get talked about of course – why the hell would you be here, otherwise - and they are part of the CD Odyssey where there is no skipping allowed!

The Stones love their compilation albums. They have almost as many compilation albums (28) as they do studio albums (31), and “Hot Rocks” is arguably the most successful of them all. Whether someone owns 30 albums or 3,000 there is a good chance “Hot Rocks” is going to be on the shelf, nestled somewhere between “Jagged Little Pill” and the soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever”.

Despite my earlier rants about compilations, there is no shame in this. This record is chock full of awesome. My CD copy is DSD remastered and while I’m not a super informed tech wizard when it comes to audiophilia, I think it sounds pretty nifty.

Because Disc Two is mostly loaded with songs I’ve commented on previously, I’m going to stick with Disc One. I listed to both, in keeping with Rule #3 (aka “A Full Listen, Monkey!) so my honour is nevertheless preserved.

Disc One is the earlier side of the Rolling Stones. I find the Stones’ penchant for blues covers competent but uninteresting for the most part, but fortunately the anthologists responsible for “Hot Rocks” picked what I would call “all the other good stuff”.

The fast-moving rock and roll jangle songs are OK, but I am more often drawn to the quieter tracks, which showcase the brilliance of Jagger and Richards as songwriters. “Play With Fire” and “Ruby Tuesday” come to mind as understated gems that rightfully remain famous decades later.

Some of the songs are “of their time”. Like horror movies, rock and roll is a genre that should lean a little into discomfort if its being done right. “Mother’s Little Helper” digs into the sixties phenomenon of Valium in a cheeky manner that makes you smirk and sing along to the refrain and then feel bad about yourself. Doubling down on this “catchy but not OK” action is “Under My Thumb” which is as controversial and troubling a song now as it ever was. In this case a bro bragging about what appears to be a mix of gaslighting and emotional abuse. But then why do these songs have to have melodies that are so damned catchy?

Hey, that’s between you and your conscience.

If you prefer to not be challenged so much, then just sink into the pure rock and roll of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” which has been one of the all time great driving songs long before Arnold Schwarzenegger has his masterful aristeia in a gravel pit in 1986’s “Raw Deal.” I can confirm it remains great for driving to this day (no gunfight required).

Most of my Rolling Stones love is for the era featuring guitarist Mick Taylor and “Hot Rocks” overlaps about half of that “golden era” of the Stones. However, that’s the half I said earlier I’m not going to focus on today. “Hot Rocks” reminds me that there is plenty of brilliance before Taylor ever came along, and what a unique style of music these guys were pumping out back in the mid to late sixties.

Best tracks: (Disc One only): Play With Fire, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Mother’s Little Helper, Paint It Black, Ruby Tuesday

CD Odyssey Disc 1796: Mean Mary

Whew! That last entry had a lot of links. Time to get back to good old regular writin’ and reviewin’ of the collection.

This next record landed at #2 on the Top 10 albums of 2024. So yeah, I liked it.

Disc 1796 is…Woman Creature (Portrait of a Woman, Part 2)

Artist: Mean Mary

Year of Release: 2024

What’s up with the Cover? It is the aforementioned woman creature, long rumoured to stalk these very woods and trails!

Those creeps from Deliverance better hope they don’t run into Woman Creature. In addition to teeth and claws and an immunity to any and all bullets not made of silver she also has a banjo, and she knows how to use it.

How I Came To Know It: I read a review over at my latest music review website, Americana Highways. It is fair to say my purchases in 2024 skewed slightly toward folk and Americana as a result of adding that site to my regular visits.

How It Stacks Up: I have fallen hard for Mean Mary. I have two of her albums so far, a third is on the way and five more are on my wish list.

For now, it is just the two, and of those “Woman Creature” comes in at #1.

Ratings: 5 stars

I am always discovering new music, to the point where the experience of ‘newness’ itself can become fairly routine. Yes, I’m having a good time, but it is within the context of expecting a good time. But every now and then in my musical journey an artist comes along that stops me in my tracks, forcing my full and immediate attention, and making the hair on my arms raise at the excitement of it all. Mean Mary did this to me. So if I wax poetic in the paragraphs to follow, please forgive a love that is new and unbridled.

Mean Mary (aka Mary James) is not a new artist, with eight studio albums under her belt, and plenty more of live playing and appearances prior to that. I still have properly explore her back catalogue, but listening to “Woman Creature” it was hard not to feel like everything she’s been working at was destined to culminate in this record, which reflects a bit of every facet of the best of what folk music has to offer, and a bit more besides.

One of the first things I noticed was the songwriting, which is top notch, landing exactly in the right spot between folksy narrative tale and literary mood poem. “Woman Creature” explores multiple facets of womanhood, including delving into the artificial and unfair expectations of society that pull – sometimes painfully – on that experience. James explores how self-expression gets misrepresented as something monstrous (“Woman Creature”), the dangers of how self-loathing can lead to settling for a self-aggrandizing jackass (“Mr. What A Catch I Am”) and the destructive force of ill-placed competition (“Murder Creek”).

“Murder Creek” is the best song on the record, an eight-minute ballad of envy, murder, revenge and possibly even a ghost. The song would be exquisite as a poem, but set to music its terrible and twisted crimes properly come to life. The opening stanzas eerie tone are the harbinger of things to come:

“I can’t close my eyes in the dark
I dream in black and bleak
I get chills when a rooster crows in the night
And I find myself at Murder Creek.”

“I wade through the water to the fallen tree
That’s been down since the storm in July
I sit until the dark begins to fade
And I’m staring at a bloodstained sky”

It goes downhill from here, with our narrator finding motivation to do fell deeds, motivated by the flash of a shirt on a clothesline (perhaps a certain man’s?), and a knowing laugh from a rival signaling she has what our narrator covets. I won’t give away the ending, but I will note the name of the song is “Murder Creek”.

Add to this songwriting prowess a prodigious talent on the banjo. James plays with exceptional range. She can be fierce and fast on “Woman Creature” and its frantic themes, light and playful on the whimsical “Tarzan” and downright gentle on the pastoral instrumental “Sweet Spring”.

Completing the trifecta is her voice: a classic folk birdsong warble with many octaves of range, which James is not afraid to put to the test. She mostly sings in a high clarion bell of a belt, but she is equally adept at reverberating power in her lower register, or a breathy whisper when the tale calls for it. Because she is a natural storyteller you might be momentarily fooled into thinking she’s more style and delivery than substance, but that would be a mistake. This record tells many brilliant tales, yes, but without Mean Mary’s voice they wouldn’t have half their dread import.

As if to prove her mettle, the album’s final song, “Bring Down the Rain,” sees James shelving the warble in favour of something between a seventies country crooner and a forties lounge diva. The result is sublime.  

If you don’t like folk music, you may find “Woman Creature” is not your cup of tea. That’ll be your loss. Sometimes greatness reveals itself in heavy metal, sometimes punk, sometimes pop. Today, folk gets its day. Embrace it and enjoy.

Best tracks: all tracks

The Best Albums of 2024

The vast majority of A Creative Maelstrom is me working my way through my music collection, one review at a time, but I like to share my favourite albums released each year as well.

I have found 84 albums worth buying that were released in 2024, and that number is only likely to grow. If you haven’t found any good new music in the past year, that’s on you, not the music.

But I’m not here to throw blame, I’m here to assist you in your journey, with a quick overview of ten of 2024’s best, as well as five more ‘honourable mentions’ for those with the same insatiable desire as I have for discovering new music. The usual caveat applies – I am almost certain to discover some other album from 2024 that should make this list, but that I don’t know yet, or haven’t properly grokked in their fullness.

OK, on with the action. For albums that I have already reviewed, you can click the link on the album title to read more about why I liked it. If you’re done reading (which, given that you’ve gotten this far, is surprising) you can enjoy a rare bit of multimedia on the CD Odyssey by listening to a track from the album to whet your appetite.

10 Cheekface – It’s Sorted

-          Cheekface’s 2021 album, “Emphatically No” landed #7 on that year’s list, and they’ve once again broken the top 10 with “It’s Sorted”. Cheekface does a post-punk vibe full of clever turns of phrase that is so funky and catchy you don’t just forgive the verbal gymnastics, you welcome it.  Here’s a live version of Popular 2 performed live at KEXP. 

9 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Wild God

-          Nick Cave has been in a pretty dark place over the last decade, having gone through more than anyone’s fair share of tragedy. He still made great music (hitting #3 on my list with Carnage back in 2021). On Wild God he re-infuses the majesty and grandiosity back into his dark journey, to glorious and fell effect. Here’s Long Dark Night: 

8 Sierra Ferrell – Trail of Flowers

-          I didn’t give this album a chance at first, probably because it wasn’t Long Time Coming (#2 from 2021) but over time I realized it didn’t have to be that, and it was brilliant all on its own. Ferrell is as raw and real as she ever was with her quavering voice and homespun honesty. Here’s American Dreamin’.

7 St. Vincent – All Born Screaming

-          I’ve been a St. Vincent fan along time and a big part of it is her constant willingness to reimagine her approach to music. One of the great guitar players of our generation, St. Vincent is always happy to let the guitar be just one part of her creativity, bending it and all the sounds it can make to her will. A lot of my favourite albums never see the light of radio play, but it is nice when one or two do. On that note, here’s Broken Man.

6 Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal

-          I’ll always be a sucker for lightning fast phrasing and clever wordplay though, and Doechii is this year’s best. It is impossible to pick a song by Doechii without a LOT of vulgarity and harsh imagery, so if that offends you DO NOT watch this video for Denial is a River. OK, you’ve been warned. Here's the song. The best song on the album is Nissan Altima, but it is a whole other magnitude of crude. By all means look Nissan Altima on your own, but as with Denial Is a River you’ve been warned. Twice.

5 Grace Cummings – Ramona

-          Grace Cummings “Storm Queen” was my number one album of 2022 and she’s back two years later cracking the top five. There is nothing quite like that ghostlike warble of Cummings’ voice. Transcendent, and once again paired with thoughtful tunes. Here’s On and On: 

4 Benjamin Tod – Shooting Star

-          I wasn’t sure about this record on my first listen, fearing it might just be another derivative country record. Not so. Benjamin Tod is grit like you ain’t seen in these parts in a while, and I’ll be doing some serious diving into his back catalogue in the months ahead. If you love an angry tune about being swallowed whole by Nashville like I do (or just like great music) then here’s  the title track, Shooting Star.

3 Willi Carlisle – Critterland

-          Critterland is a showcase for singer-songwriter, and Carlisle is up with the greats in the genre, after only a couple records. I haven’t heard a vibrato-loaded storyteller like this since Stan Rogers, and it reminded me how much I’d missed it. If you can handle harsh songs about bad fathers then consider that your trigger warning and here’s The Arrangements, played live for maximum sting. 

2 Mean Mary – Woman Creature (Portrait of a Woman Part 2)

-          The highest ranked of the four established artists that were only newly discovered by me in 2024 (the others being Willi Carlisle, Benjamin Tod, and Doechii), Mean Mary is another voice that, like Grace Cummings, is one of a kind. Mean Mary devotes her instrument to folksy tales that have a lot more to say than just what’s on the surface, and this record is everything its provocative title promises and then some. It also features one of my favourite murder ballads of all time, Murder Creek. Yes, it is almost eight minutes long, but it’s worth the time spent. 

1 Amyl and the Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness

-          My friend Nick introduced me to Amyl and the Sniffers back in 2019 and I’ve been hooked ever since. They’re punk brilliance from Australia, and while Cartoon Darkness may be their least rough and raw recording, it more than makes up for it with range, dynamics and composition. Despite that it still hits hard as hell. The album is raunchy, and the single I've chosen has some offensive language, so if that offends you don't listen. OK, warning over. Here’s Tiny Bikini. 

Honourable Mention – all great, but fell short because I could only pick a top 10. Here are 5 more in no particular order in the event you aren’t sated by the official winners:

• Mary Timony – Untame the Tiger; Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Past is Still Alive; The Paranoid Style – The Interrogator; Vera Sola – Peacemaker; Dehd – Poetry

And for those new to the Top Ten Experience, click on the year below to get the full from that year (I’ve proved #1 as a teaser):

Best of 2023 (#1 was Boy Golden)

Best of 2022 (#1 was Grace Cummings)

Best of 2021 (#1 was Lucy Dacus)

Best of 2020 (#1 was Katie Pruitt)

CD Odyssey Disc 1795: Wild Pink

I have exciting news – I have selected my top 10 albums of 2025. Surely the mountains themselves will reverberate with the triumphant return of the yearly top 10!

But before that, I am afraid there is this nagging commitment to review ALL the albums in my collection so bonus end-of-year list coverage – however exciting – will have to wait a couple of days.

And with that teaser, let’s get on with the review.

Disc 1795 is…Yolk in the Fur

Artist: Wild Pink

Year of Release: 2018

What’s up with the Cover? This is a satellite photo of the burning oil fires in Kuwait following the Gulf War. I remember when this environmental disaster was happening live. As memories go, not a great one to revisit.

Maybe Wild Pink would choose to go for something with a “wild pink” kind of vibe next time. Something frivolous and fun. (Spoiler alert: they do not. The next cover once again features a lot of brown).

How I Came To Know It: In the boring way I have come to know many records – I read a review, was sufficiently intrigued to give it a listen, and liked what I heard. Purchased at my local record store, which is the number one place one (meaning anyone) should purchase an album if the opportunity exists. Support local business! Support brick-and-mortar stores!

How It Stacks Up: I have three Wild Pink albums and I am on the lookout for their 2024 album, “Dulling the Horns”. I don’t have it yet though, and things only stack against what is already in my collection. Of the albums I currently have, “Yolk in the Fur” is #1.

Ratings: 3 stars

Ambient, mood-heavy indie folk music does not usually appeal to me, but every once in a while, someone comes along (Band of Horses, Lord Huron) that wins me over. Wild Pink is one of those bands, making music I can’t bring myself to dislike, despite every honest effort.

“Yolk in the Fur” is Wild Pink’s second album, but it was the first for me to have me engaging in this tug-of-war between what I want to like, and what my ears choose to like. Did it blow me away? Reader, it did not, but it did begrudgingly win me over.

It helps that the band puts the best song first (always a good move when fishing for album devotees). “Burger Hill” is a mood piece that immediately puts you in a peaceful and contemplative headspace.

The song is ostensibly about sitting on a hill looking down on houses below. It’s a winter scene captured amid falling snow, and quite pretty lyrically, but in all honesty, I had to look that up. Unlike a lot of my musical preferences, “Yolk in the Fur” puts soundscapes ahead of lyrics. The lyrics to “Burger Hill” are good, but the vocals are low and farther back in the mix and the song – like most of the record – is a soft and soothing soundscape.

This works well for John Ross’ voice, which is high and airy to the point of ghostlike. He’s still the star of the show, but more like how Steve Harris plays bass in Iron Maiden: critical to the sound, but content to be part of the experience, rather than in front of it.

There are also tracks with a bit of jump in them, like “Lake Eerie” but here it is the percussion driving the show, and while there isn’t anything groundbreaking about a well-playing snare hitting at the front of the pocket, it’s the kind of familiarity that breeds content, rather than contempt.

“Yolk in the Fur” is a subtle record, and it requires an active ear and a quiet room (or headphones) to be enjoyed to its fullest. I’ve had this album in my collection for years (six, to be exact) and this particular listen was in the most unforgiving environment, entirely enjoyed while competing with the growl of my car engine on my morning and evening commute. It nevertheless fared well overall.

That said, there are times when I longed for a little more dynamic range in the record. The melodies are pretty, but the nature of Wild Pink’s approach to the arrangements means they are sometimes buried deeper than they need to be. Like any dreamy experience, this meant that at times I drifted away when I wanted to be present. That’s a bit on me, and a bit on the car, but it’s also a bit on the record.

And so we land at a friendly but not excessive three stars. Enjoyable but not enough to land on 2018’s “top 10” list by any stretch. What will land on 2024’s list? We end where we began, my friends…with a teaser.

Best tracks: Burger Hill, Lake Eerie, There Is a Ledger, The Séance on St. Augustine Street

CD Odyssey Disc 1794: John Cougar Mellencamp

Apologies for my absence, gentle readers. The holidays take a bite out of the kind of time needed that meet the criteria of Rule #4 (listening only counts when done alone when I’m doing nothing more than driving, walking, or painting).

As a result, this album took a whole week to get through, but it was an enjoyable week.

Disc 1794 is…Uh-huh

Artist: John Cougar Mellencamp

Year of Release: 1983

What’s up with the Cover? This looks like a photograph that’s been painted on to look ‘arty’. It depicts John Cougar Mellencamp with an array of angels behind his head. I do not understand what the addition of these angels are supposed to represent, although angels are represented (by their absence) in the song “Golden Gates”.

However, it is not the angels that caught and held my attention with a horrified fascination, it was the shoes. That is one ugly pair of loafers, Mr. Mellencamp. And while I know it was the style at the time, the flash of white socks does not help.

Attention folks that are currently white-socking it around out there: you do you, but know that this is not a look that time treats kindly.

How I Came To Know It: This album was everywhere when it came out, and I know it from years of music videos, high school dances, house parties and general media exposure, much of which I considered unwelcome at the time.

Most recently this comes to me via my wife Sheila’s recent penchant for picking up albums at bargain-bin prices from thrift stores and bringing them home on spec. While this has eaten up a lot of additional real estate for the music collection, it has also been welcome for at least three reasons.

First and most obvious – you get a lot of deals and the misses are inexpensive. Case in point: this CD set her back a mere $4.

Second, it is fun to live dangerously and not know whether you’ll like something or not. Reminds me of the adventure of shopping for music back in the days before I stalked prospective records on Youtube and Bandcamp before purchasing.

Third, I don’t acquiesce to AI algorithms finding music for me, and this is one more avenue to expand my musical horizons in ways I otherwise might not.

How It Stacks Up: John Cougar’s “Jack and Diane” was one of my first two ever purchased 45s (the other was Steve Miller Band’s “Abracadabra”) but as far CDs go, this is my only Mellencamp album, so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5

Four stars will be a shock to all those who have heard me – usually after one too many cocktails – refer to Mellencamp as “shitty Bruce Springsteen”. A very unkind and unfair moniker indeed for an artist that is so much a part of the fabric of American rock music. My other favourite falsehood is deeming Lynyrd Skynyrd “shitty Molly Hatchet” but that is more about getting a rise out of Skynyrd fans. Besides, who doesn’t love Molly Hatchet?

Please put your hands down, Skynyrd fans; I don’t have time to spend the afternoon tallying all your votes, and we’re here to praise “Uh Huh” not start a second round of “Sweet Home Alabama”.

Let’s return to Mr. Mellencamp, and “Uh Huh”, one of the seminal albums of eighties rock and roll, that holds up admirably more than forty years after its release. This record is a master class of how some simple rock and roll riffs and heartfelt lyrics, delivered with honesty and integrity, are more than enough to make a classic record.

First and foremost a shout-out to the production decisions. This was 1983, and rock musicians everywhere were starting to experiment with all manner of bad ideas. Synthesizers, drum machines, saxophone solos (excepting the great Clarence Clemons) – the list is long and abhorrent. These aren’t bad ideas overall, but they belong to New Wave and pop music and tend to suck the life out of the grit required to make good old rock and roll.

Mellencamp doubles down on what makes rock be rock, going so far as to include a song, “Play Guitar” which is essentially about this idea. Sure he also includes the very Casio-sounding “Jackie O” on this record, but it is the exception that proves the rule, and so I (mostly) forgive it.

Lyrically, this record digs into the plight of working-class America, and people struggling to get by and realize the American dream. “Pink Houses”, “Authority Song” and “Golden Gates” all capture the sentiment, and the upbeat rock vibe is a nice juxtaposition against the hard message underneath. As Mellencamp himself sings on “Authority Song”, when he rails against the system he “comes out grinnin’”. Not because he wins (n.b. the song makes clear that ‘authority’ always wins) but smiling means not giving “the man” the satisfaction. Sometimes that’s enough.

In many ways the album is the flip side to the darker tones of Springsteen’s “Darkness at the Edge of Town” and “Born in the USA”, telling similar stories with a blush of optimism and bravado. Same outcome but delivered with more major chords.

So does this mean I’ll forever stop that unfair (and incorrect) comparison I’ve made over the years? Given that I’ve just waxed poetic about the brilliance of “Uh huh”? Given that I still have that 45 of “Jack and Diane” squirrelled away somewhere? Given that I continued to harbour a secret (until now) and abiding love for the song “Paper in Fire” since its initial release?

Reader, I cannot promise that. Mostly because cognitive dissonance is a powerful force. I will say that “Uh Huh” is a great record, and I’m going to leave this review a humbled and wiser man. I’ll also go explore both “Scarecrow” (1985) and “The Lonesome Jubilee” (1987) and see how they suit me now that my eyes have been opened.

I’ll also do my best to upgrade the reference to “upbeat Bruce Springsteen”, or maybe even “the Underboss”. Take the win, John.

Best tracks: Crumblin’ Down, Pink Houses, Authority Song, Play Guitar, Serious Business, Golden Gates