Year End 2020: Top 10 Albums of the Year

 So, now it's very long overdue for this, the last part of my 2020 year end lists. Yes, I'm well aware that it's almost March, but as you are aware, a lot has been going on in the world, and its been a little hard to focus. Alas, here is my personal top 10 list of albums released last year.

10. Code Orange- Underneath

Code Orange continue to push the genre of metal-core into more experimental directions. They played around with nu-metal on their last effort, Forever, and have now augmented that more melodic sound with heavy electronics and industrial sounds. The sound is super glitchy and at times disorienting (I thought my internet connection was buffering or something the first time I listened to 'Swallowing the Rabbit Whole'), but it's still as punishing as you'd want your metal-core to be. I'm also glad it came out at the early stages of the pandemic, as I may have looked over it later into quarantine as I sought out progressively mellower music.

9. Bent Arcana- Bent Arcana

John Dwyer and the Oh Sees (or whatever they're going by at the moment) have had a very prolific career, and that shows no signs of stopping. However, John Dwyer teamed up with a new cast of characters for Bent Arcana, which evolved from largely improvisational jam sessions, and strays pretty far from the tighter arrangements of the garage psych bangers the Oh Sees might craft. Even if the tracks on something like Face Stabber were longer and more krautrock and prog rock inspired than earlier fare, John Dwyer has never been a part of something so loose and exploratory in nature.

8. Conway the Machine- From a King to a God

I got pretty deep into the Griselda Records discography last year, and the key shining member to me is Conway the Machine. From his delivery, superior wordplay, and more versatile nature, Conway is definitely the standout of the group to me, and he more than shows it on his greatest and most diverse album to date. Though he still spits cold coke rap bars over eerie and grimy production, there's also a lot of introspection and even some melodic hooks that have been largely absent from Griselda projects up to this point. Sometimes in hip hop, it's not always about who's the hardest. Sharing your story can also be very effective.

7. Fiona Apple- Fetch the Bolt Cutters

Yes, this album is really great. I'm sure your sick of hearing about it by now. There is not a weak Fiona Apple album in the pack, but if I'm going to be honest, this is probably my fourth favorite record of hers, just above Extraordinary Machine. That's not to say this album is bad, far from it. I guess I'm just curious as to why this album is being praised as being so game changing, while, in my opinion, The Idler Wheel... was just as experimental, percussion heavy and emotionally resonant 8 years previously and I barely heard a thing about it. Maybe the world wasn't quite ready for the sound yet. I'm glad it is now.

6. Deerhoof- Future Teenage Cave Artists

It's kind of amazing that this album was recorded and conceived of before the pandemic, as it sounds and has themes of a quarantine record before those were even a thing. Reading the Joyful Noise press release and hearing some of the lyrics give off this feel of a post apocalyptic group of people hiding away and rocking out before their technology reliant overlords find and extinguish them. Their insistence on recording as an insular group instead of with many collaborators like their previous Mountain Moves also gives the record an intimate feel that, given its recording time occurring before it was en vogue to do so, seemed almost prophetic. 

5. Run the Jewels- RTJ4

El-P and Killer Mike seem to top themselves with every album. This record has a lot of very diverse production styles, and RTJ4 is probably the duo's most political effort to date. Unfortunately, this album and other albums like it are still having to be made,  supporting political causes and movements that are still as fresh as they were 50 plus years ago. This album was released around the time of George Floyd's murder, and the names keep proliferating. I hope one day the messages in these raps will be completely irrelevant, like "remember when?"

4. Sparkle Division- To Feel Embraced

This is a completely different side of William Basinski. While his Lamentations album released the same year was also strong, his collaboration with Preston Wendel came completely out of left field. Jazzy, funky, and almost danceable? For a famed ambient composer like Basinski, it seemed inconceivable. I guess I have no idea what kind of music he made in the '80s, before his tape loops began to degrade, but I wouldn't have thought it was something so groovy. We'd also get a bit of Basinski's older and unheard work last year, released as Hymns of Oblivion, but this one took the cake for me.

3. Sightless Pit- Grave of a Dog

The collaboration efforts between The Body and Full of Hell were always better than the sum of their parts in my opinion, but throw in my number one album artist from 2019, Lingua Ignota, and the sound reaches levels of intensity and haunting beauty that are intoxicating and uncomfortable in equal measure. This album is incredibly heavy, interspersed with a lot of electronic edits that keep things unpredictable, with Kristin Hayter's rising above the distorted guitars, walls of fuzzy noise and throaty screams. This definitely scratches the same itch that Caligula did the year before, maybe with a bit more forward momentum.

2. Fleet Foxes- Shore

Robin Pecknold and company came out of nowhere and gave us a little sonic sanctuary from the darkness that I think a lot of people desperately needed in 2020. Nearing the fall of last year, I was feeling exhausted, burnt out by all the fear, anger and depressing events. Fleet Foxes allowed me to escape that for just a little while, and bask in the mellow sun baked sands of a beach no one could get to, all without leaving my house. People went on about how some artists weren't talking about events in their music, but I feel like it doesn't have to be all political all the time. Sometimes people just need to be reminded that's not just heaviness all the time, and every wave, no matter how large, always breaks on the shore.

1. Phoebe Bridgers- Punisher

I was late to the Phoebe Bridgers party, but I'm glad I'm finally here. This is essentially her previous album, Stranger in the Alps (which I'm just as obsessed with), with better production and more instrumentation, without sacrificing any of the superb songwriting or emotionally devastating power. Phoebe Bridgers falls into that class of songwriter that bares a lot of their personal lives, and in that amount of detail, a huge amount of relatability and emotional resonance is planted. There's also a lot of humor in her lyrics as well, which leaves you questioning whether to laugh, cry or brood with existential longing. I think she does Elliott Smith proud here, and I hope her new found success doesn't keep her from her previous groups, boygenius and Better Living Community Center, because I need more from them too.

So, that's my top ten. I know it took me forever to drop the list, and I'm not sure what I'll be doing next with the blog, but I'll try to be a little bit more active. Hoping everyone is having a better 2021 so far, and hoping the world recovers from what was a pretty dismal last year. Peace.

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Year End 2020: Top 5 Musical Disappointments

 Continuing in my year end 2020 lists (even though we're into February) is a list of the top 5 musical disappointments from last year. In years past, this list was strictly albums, but since I didn't really come across many disappointing records last year, I filled it out with some other notable disappointments. Now take note: this is a list of musical disappointments, not the worst albums or something to that effect. Unlike others, I don't actively seek out bad music. This is a list of things that had the potential, in my mind, to be good. Stuff like Green Day's Father of All... never crossed my mind as being of any merit. With that being said, let's dive in.

The Smashing Pumpkins- Cyr

This will probably be the last time the Smashing Pumpkins appear on this list. I feel like I probably won't be looking forward to another release by Billy Corgan and company, since the last few were so middling. I'll still check the records out, and if I'm impressed, that's cool, but after probably Oceania, there probably hasn't been an album by the band or Corgan solo that I would describe as anything less than mediocre. Corgan couldn't even pronounce Samhain right on 'Wyttch'. That would've taken like two seconds to research. I see what they were going for, with the whole synthpop influence, but it just ended up sounding like a less inspired Adore. I figured with the band more or less reformed, it would be a little better than this. Not excited for this alleged Mellon Collie sequel.

Childish Gambino- 3.15.20

I feel like Donald Glover may be feeling himself a little bit too much. After the critical success of Awaken, My Love! (which I rated very highly), and his TV and movie successes, I feel like he thinks he can do no wrong. I may be on an island about this, but I didn't think that 'This is America' really worked without the video (since it really didn't say anything), I don't think that seasons 3 and 4 of Atlanta will touch The Sopranos or The Wire like he has stated in interviews, and I don't think an hour of aimless, experimental R&B noodling is all that interesting just because it has Donald Glover's name on it. I feel like Glover heard Frank Ocean, and just thought "I can do Endless and Blond at the same time, except way worse and mixed poorly".

Jay Electronica- A Written Testimony

We waited over a decade for this? Jay Electronica had been teasing Act II for so long (which we also kind of got this year), but instead scrapped it to release a rushed and relatively cobbled together product. I'm not a fan of Jay-Z, so I probably wasn't as excited as other people when he featured on nearly every track. How can your debut have almost the same time spent on another rapper? (unless your debut is Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, then it's cool) Plus, when Jay Elec is rapping it's not nearly what people had come to expect from Act I or the various loose singles. Maybe the hype killed it, but I felt like this was a pretty lackluster effort by one of rap's supposed greats.

Van Morrison and other COVID-19 "Truthers"

Dude, why? I just don't understand why artists like Van Morrison are so against the lockdown and not being able to tour that they'll destroy an over 50 year musical legacy. Yes, not being able to go see live shows sucks, but it's not worth dying over. You have a platform, and whether you know anything about the subject or not, people are going to look at you to see how to act, moronic or no. So when you complain about lockdown and release not one but three super cringey anti-lockdown singles, you may be getting people killed. If you don't have the money after a 50 year career to sit out a year of touring, you haven't managed your money well. I don't see Neil Young or others your age complaining.

Big Name Artists Hoarding Albums

Believe it or not, if your album is good, people will come and see you live, whether its now or in a year. I understand the financial crunch of smaller bands not being able to tour, but large bands and artists holding up albums because they can't tour them is pretty silly. The Weeknd, Taylor Swift and others did just fine. I know Weezer just released a new album, and I did have them in mind when I was planning this post and thought of changing the pictured image to someone like Kendrick or Avenged Sevenfold, but then I heard them complaining that they wished Eddie Van Halen had been able to hear their Van Weezer album, which is in part a tribute to his style of guitar heroics. Well, he could have if you'd released it last May like you were scheduled to, but then you couldn't tour it. Artistry doesn't have to rely entirely on whether or not you get paid.

I'll be back to finish my year end lists with my top 10 albums of 2020.

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Year End 2020: Top 10 Albums That I Discovered/Rediscovered

 Welcome back to my year end 2020 lists. This is pretty late, but as long as I get them done by February, right? This is a list of albums that I either discovered or rediscovered in 2020, but were not released in that year. For my top 10 albums of 2020, stay tuned.

blashy101- Animal Forest  どうぶつの森

I got turned on to the DMT Tapes FL label pretty early on into the year, and it's wide selection of vapor releases kept me coming back all year. The label is closed now, but you can still get their full and vast discography on Bandcamp, among other places. blashy101 was one of my favorite artists on the roster, especially with the releases flipping Animal Crossing samples. It was one of my favorite games when I was a teenager, and it brought me back. Ironically, I'm probably one of the few people that wasn't playing the new Animal Crossing in the early days of quarantine, but I was bumping this. 

Earth- The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull

Earth is a pretty pioneering drone metal band, started in the late '80s and really reaching their noisy peak in the mid '90s. After that, they got a little weirder, mixing in dark folk elements and Americana. This album falls into their later period. Imagine the soundtrack to a heavily medicated spaghetti western, and you might get an idea of the sounds this album has in store. I found myself listening to a lot more instrumental and ambient stuff last year. Last year was incredibly trying for a lot of people, and  I found myself avoiding a lot of heavy, aggressive music for something a little more contemplative.

The Grateful Dead- Workingman's Dead

I listened to a lot of the Dead last year, thanks in part to the Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast, which you should definitely listen to if you're a fan. It's coverage of some of the songs, in particular 'Black Peter', gave me a new appreciation for this album. I always thought the track was a bit of a weak link in the track list, but after hearing of the experience Robert Hunter used as inspiration for the track, in which he was dosed with waaaaay too much LSD and experienced a thousand deaths in his mind, I understand it a little more.

Griselda- WWCD

I got fully immersed into the Griselda world this year, and their version of grimy coke raps is probably the most aggressive thing I listened to this year. While their wordplay can be impressive, it's really their delivery and incredible production that sealed the deal. Of the three members, I'd probably have to say that Conway is my favorite. Plus, they're from Buffalo, which I grew up near, so you've got to support some homegrown talent. If you're driving around town up to no good, this should be the soundtrack to your mayhem. 

Desert Sand Feels Warm at Night- 濃霧 

I listened to a lot of podcasts last year, and I was lucky enough to listen to the Private Suite Podcast while it was active (RIP Private Suite). They introduced me to a lot of vapor and vapor adjacent music, of which Desert Sand Feels Warm at Night is one of my favorites. The long, slushy ambient pieces filled the hole that  t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 left behind, in my humble opinion.

Nine Inch Nails- Ghosts I-IV

With the release of Ghosts V and Ghosts VI last year, I did a little bit of backtracking and re-listened to Trent Reznor's first soundscape albums. They definitely still hold up and are a little bit more engaging than the new ones. I found myself listening to these a decent amount last year when I was reading or writing. A lot of people can't concentrate with music playing, but I can't really concentrate without music playing. As long as there aren't a lot of lyrics to pull me out of my zone, it helps me concentrate and block out distractions. This could be a decent study playlist, if you're into that sort of thing.

James Taylor- Greatest Hits

In addition to a lot of ambient stuff, I listened to a whole lot of '70s singer songwriter records last year. This compilation has been with me for a very long time, and it got a lot of spins from me in 2020. It's got such a mellow, hopeful mood that's a bit infectious, and for a brief moment, it helped me forget about other infectious things ravaging the country. I've got most of the songs on this record memorized, and my favorite is probably 'Sweet Baby James'. Like most of Taylor's songs, it's pretty simple, but that's what gives it its irresistible charm. 

Neil Young- After the Gold Rush

I listened to a lot of Neil Young last year, in particular this record. I probably got obsessed with 'Don't Let It Bring You Down' for a straight up week. The period right after Deja Vu was a peak artistic spot for all of CSNY, and this probably my favorite of the solo releases to follow that record, possibly being rivaled by the next album on this list, though it's a bit like comparing apples and oranges. This album takes a more direct folk and rock approach, while the other....

David Crosby- If I Could Only Remember My Name

I never really listened to this record until last year, when I heard about its conception on the Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast (it's really good I promise). I did not expect this album to be so free form and jam based, though had I known most of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane played on the record, I may have seen that coming. I got an album completely different from the by the numbers folk rock record I was thinking it was (not that there's anything wrong with a record like that). It's definitely the most left field and experimental release of the CSNY post Deja Vu solo records.

Liz Phair- Exile In Guyville

I got into a lot of women singer songwriters in 2020: Sharon Van Etten, Weyes Blood, Angel Olson, Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers (more on her in a later post) just to name a handful. Not all of them owe a little bit to Liz Phair, but I can see little glimpses in some of their writing. She and Alanis really put that edgy female singer songwriter thing on the map in the '90s, and it's a shame that publications like Pitchfork eviscerated her for making some poppy records in the 2000s that don't sound too dissimilar from records they're giving Best New Music now. Looking forward to Soberish, Liz.

So, those were some of the records I listened to quite a lot in 2020. Stay tuned for a list of 2020 Disappointments (Musically, otherwise you'd find a post the length of a Russian novel) and for my top 10 albums of 2020.

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Year End 2020: Top 10 Books I Read

 I'm back, and somehow still alive. I took a break from writing for a while, but figured I should at least return to do my year end lists. As for the Golden Nuggets series, I kind of lost interest after a while, but hopefully I can think of something else to write about after too long. The first portion of my 2020 in review was the top ten books that I read. Being in the house a lot more last year, I had a lot more time to get some reading done, and I tackled a lot. These are not books that came out in 2020, merely books I happened to read in 2020. Stay tuned for my top album discoveries list, most disappointing albums list and my top ten albums of the year.

James Joyce- Finnegans Wake

Reading this book is definitely something else, and one of the most challenging and rewarding reading experiences of my life. I even read Anthony Burgess' Rejoyce prior to undertaking this, being aware of the novel's historic difficulty, but it barely prepared me. This novel is so dense, impenetrable, and experimental that Joyce scholars haven't been able to fully agree on the bare bones of the plot, almost 100 years later. The thing that I find so fascinating about it is that mystique, and that every sentence contains multiple meanings, depending on if you're taking the words at face value, or if you're reading them aloud, and the words spoken sound out different meanings. Read some passages for yourself if you want to know what I mean. This is dream logic in literary form.

Questlove- Creative Quest

I read this book early on into quarantine, and it helped me make use of some of the extra time I had sitting around at home to do more and to think more creatively. Questlove shares some anecdotes about some of the experiences in his career regarding creativity and being your most productive self, and I hope to maybe apply some of these suggestions more often into my daily life.

Albert Camus- The Plague

This book's plot, which revolves around a small city's quarantine and isolation due to plague, should seem incredibly familiar to most of the people reading this, since it seems shockingly accurate to the modern world's response (or lack thereof) to the COVID-19 pandemic, which as of this writing, has been going on for almost a year. I read this probably around April, and it was almost a window into the denial, selfishness, and stupidity of people at large that was to follow. Albert Camus' grasp of the human condition was amazing, and it's a little sad that a book written over 70 years ago could still be so relevant regarding these types of issues.

Thomas Pynchon- The Crying of Lot 49

I got into a little bit more Pynchon last year, tackling this novel, as well as his short story collection, Slow Learner. This kind of underground war between rival secret post offices was pretty interesting, and learning about the real roots of some of the old companies gave this story a more grounded reality. I bet if these secret post offices actually existed, they wouldn't have let Donald Trump try to kill them to steal an election. I'm going to try and dig deeper into Pynchon this year if I can.

Tom Wolfe- The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

I've always been interested in the psychedelic movement of the mid to late '60s, but I never gave this book a read until last year. Tom Wolfe creates a bit of a journalistic novel of the events surrounding Ken Kesey, his Merry Pranksters, and the Acid Tests which would introduce a lot of people to LSD. I found the descriptions of the group's day to day activities fascinating, and really wish I could see their films or hear some of the tape recordings they made around this time. It also gave me a little bit of a window into the beginnings of Owsley's chemistry career, and made me want to pick the recent biography on him.

Anthony A Barrett- Caligula: The Corruption of Power

I have seen and heard many accounts of Caligula's life and reign, some more accurate than others. This book is probably one of the most thoroughly researched and accurate books on the subject. Though a little dry in spots, and slightly confusing in others (but that mostly stems from ancient Romans naming every kid the exact same thing, or a very slight alteration of it), the book takes a little bit of the controversy and exploitative nature of the other accounts away and tries to give a more realistic portrait of Gaius Caligula. If you're looking for exploitation, go for Tinto Brass or Bruno Mattei. If you're looking for fact, perhaps start here.

Flannery O'Connor- Collected Works

Flannery O'Connor is among the best Southern Gothic writers to ever pick up a pen, and I was glad to finally read her entire output. This volume collects her two novels, her short story collections, including unpublished works, some of her prose pieces, and a truly exhaustive number of personal letters. If her fiction didn't give you a picture of who she was and what she believed in, her letters definitely will. I began to see some push back against her writings this year with accusations of racism, which if people actually read her, would know is hilarious, as her views are anything but. She writes racist, bigoted, and immoral characters, but they are always framed in a poor light and the error in their ways is made apparent in the story. She's showing you what becomes of people who believe these things, not that she believes them.

David Foster Wallace- A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

I also dug deeper into David Foster Wallace's bibliography last year, reading this and his first story collection The Girl with Curious Hair. I had never been exposed to his non fiction before, besides "This is Water", which I guess is more of a speech than anything. So I had a question. How does the writer of Infinite Jest cover a state fair? Or a cruise to Jamaica? The answer is in an incredibly intelligent, often hilarious style. He even made subjects such as mathematics and physics in tennis interesting, which I would normally find boring or tedious. It's a shame he's not around to see the world of today, because I would love to hear his thoughts on it's current predicament.

Tom Mullen- Anthology of Emo Volume 2

This is the second collection of transcribed interviews of the Washed Up Emo Podcast that has been released, and it is no less enthralling. A few artists, such as Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World, were known to me, but it was also very fun for me to read about bands I had never heard of, being only a kid when a lot of these bands were touring in their prime. It turned me on to a lot of new (to me) bands, and gave me some greater knowledge of the genre. Also, if you're not subscribed to the podcast, you should do that. 

Paul A Woods- Morrissey in Conversation

This book collects a number of interviews done with Morrissey throughout his career, from the early '80s with the Smiths, up through his solo stuff. For those wondering, this book's last interview was from around 2006, so much too late to touch on Morrissey's latest controversial statements. It's interesting to see his opinion on Thatcher and other topics back then, and then to see what he allegedly supports now. It's also interesting to see what the press always focused on with him. As an American, I'm not too familiar with the British press, but they seem a lot more fickle, and much more interested in things we would consider tabloid journalism. A lot of questions were asked to Morrissey; very little had much to do with music.

So, that's about it for now. For my next entry, I'll be discussing albums that I either discovered or rediscovered in the year 2020. Stay safe out there, and mask up.

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Golden Nuggets #18: The Guess Who- American Woman

                                          

Welcome back to the eighteenth iteration of the Golden Nuggets series, where I take a look at the Billboard number one hit singles from half a centuries' past and share my thoughts, as well as hypothesize on the success and the lasting impact, if any. I'm still a little behind as I normally like it to be fifty years to the week, but this plague has me a bit preoccupied. This time, we'll be looking at the hit song 'American Woman', by the Canadian rock band, The Guess Who. If you've never heard of the song, or want a quick listen, you can check it out here. 

If you did listen to the song I provided, you might notice that this is the album version, about a minute and a half longer than the single version, which starts just about where the main riff comes in. I much prefer the album version, the the little acoustic blues tune with the vocal riffing in the front. I understand why it was cut, as it takes a while to get started and might be too soft in the beginning to grab a radio listener, but on FM stations, I'm sure they played the full version. In my opinion, this is a great song, but one whose meaning seems to elude a lot of listeners. There have been multiple movies where I've seen it used positively, and it's anything but. Whether you believe the vocalist Burton Cummings' original statements that that was no allegory there, and it was an apolitical commentary on how American girls grow up faster than Canadians and are dangerous, to guitarist Randy Bachman now stating it was in fact political and railing against the Vietnam War and the draft, it still shouldn't a thing for a pretty woman to dance to in a movie montage.

Musically, the guitar riff is on point and has a dirty sound to it, and makes the song the kind of thing you'll hear in dive bars to the end of time. Burton Cumming's vocal performance is also very soulful, and he can go from lightly singing during the intro to practically screaming near the end, exercising an impressive range in the process. This is in stark contrast to Lenny Kravitz' garbage cover, which is as sterile as an operating room and has as much swing as a Baroque chamber piece. I find it amazing that a person so obviously influenced by Jimi Hendrix could produce such a soulless husk of a cover, while you're getting schooled in the blues by some dorky looking dudes from Manitoba.

I really enjoy the track, and whatever the interpretation of the lyrics that the listener believes or that the members want to provide this week, I feel like this tune has stood the test of time due to its killer riff and the use of 'American' in the title. It seems to give it a novelty that probably gets it tossed on tons of Memorial Day or Fourth of July playlists, whether the listener is aware of the irony or not, or whether there is irony at all, depending on which member you listen to. I myself am more inclined to side with Randy Bachman, as I probably would be turning down a girl based on her countries' "war machines" and "ghetto scenes", but maybe I'm just weird like that.

Check back in later for the next installment of the Golden Nuggets series, where I tear into the hypocritical garbage track 'Everything is Beautiful' by Ray Stevens. I'm making no bones about this one. I hate the song and I intend to state my case. Later.

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Golden Nuggets #17: The Jackson Five- ABC

It's been quite a while, but I'm back to deliver the seventeenth installment of the Golden Nuggets series. With the combination of the pandemic, lack of motivation, and a broken laptop, it took me a minute to get back into the swing of things and start writing again. Now, normally this series takes on the number one Billboard hit from around the week of release 50 years prior, but it's going to take a minute to catch up now that I'm four months (yikes) behind, but hopefully I can get back into the game and start pumping these out, along with maybe some other content. Today we'll be looking at the classic track from the Jackson Five, "ABC". If you've somehow never heard the song (liar), or just want a refresher, you can check out the link here. Hopefully that link's still up; I made the draft for this post four months ago and I'm too lazy to check. Digressions aside, let's get started.

First things first, one of the many reasons I've been putting off writing was simply my uncertainty as how to tackle discussing this song. It's probably one of the most famous songs in Motown's catalog (and that's saying something), so there's obviously been a wealth of material written on just this song alone. For my part, I like the song alright. The melody is nice, lyrics are catchy and the groove is pretty tight. I really enjoy the fuzz tone on either the bass or guitar (can't really tell) that you don't really hear on a lot of bubblegum pop records, but other than that, this track doesn't hold a lot of nostalgia for me. My dad was about 14 when this song came out, and I feel like he would have been listening to stuff like Chicago or early prog stuff around this time, so I didn't really get that personal connection you get when your parents play their music to you as a kid. Admittedly, I'm not really into a lot of '60s Motown stuff, and even though this dropped in 1970, it still has a '60s feel to it. I feel like until Marvin Gaye challenged the assembly line formula of Motown with What's Going On, a lot of Motown was pretty boilerplate, meat and potatoes disposable pop. That may be blasphemy to some, but I'll take '70s Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye over a '60s girl group or Miracles record any time.

I think the experimentation into other forms of music other than pop and R&B wasn't really allowed in the '60s and early '70s at Motown, and as such, there's not a lot of diversity or depth there. That being said, I feel like this song is pretty good for what it is, and I can definitely see why it became popular. This song has survived for fifty years, and endured through the dissolution of the Jackson Five, the exposure of Joe Jackson's heavy handed (pun intended) managerial "parenting" that propelled the groups, and Michael Jackson's own controversies. The public has to have a pretty big personal investment in a song for it to survive relatively unscathed through all the years and scandals like that, even if I don't really get it. A solid hit? Sure. A classic? Of course. Defining song of a generation and childhood? Maybe for others, but not so much for myself or my parents.

Next time (hopefully soon), I'll be taking a look at the song 'American Woman', by the Guess Who, which unfortunately, is just as prescient as the day it was recorded. Some things never change it would seem. 

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Golden Nuggets #16: The Beatles- Let it Be

Welcome to the sixteenth installment of The Golden Nuggets series, where I take a listen and provide a little commentary to the top song on the Billboard charts from fifty years ago. A blast from the past to get inside the heads of yesteryear's listening public. Today, we have a challenge. What am I going to say about the Beatles' 'Let it Be' that hasn't been said about a million times before over the half century since it's release. I guess we'll find out together. If you've somehow never heard this song, or need a quick refresher, you can listen to it here. I attached the single version, as the album version has a slightly different mix and a different George Harrison guitar solo, but we're talking about singles charts on Golden Nuggets (maybe I'll do Golden Albums at some point if this quarantine gets me super bored), so let's get into it.

As I've said, this song is super popular, even now, and The Beatles are one of the most famous bands in the world, even fifty years after their breakup (this song actually peaked at #1 for the first week of its two week spot at the top the same week the split was announced: April 12, 1970), so finding stuff to talk about that hasn't been mined before might prove a little difficult. I'm sure everyone is aware of the failed Get Back sessions before Abbey Road was recorded that produced this song, as well as the subsequent and controversial remix by Phil Spector. I'm sure all have at least heard of the accompanying film (seriously, can we get a rerelease of that? I know it doesn't paint a super glamorous portrait of the band, but it's history, man), and of the 2003 release of the stripped down Let it Be...Naked that stripped most of Spector's contributions (which coincidentally was released the same year he allegedly shot a woman in the face. A way to distance the Beatles from that legacy, perhaps?) I'm sure people even know that the "Mother Mary" being referred to in the lyrics is Paul McCartney's mother, and not as many people thought, Mary mother of Jesus (The Beatles weren't Catholic, they came from English Protestant backgrounds, that's a weird thing to assume). So, what's left to talk about?

I guess I might go into my personal thoughts about the record. The "words of wisdom" this song preaches may be able to be taken a couple of different ways, but to me, it kind of sounds like a just sit back and enjoy the ride and things will unfold as they should "Hakuna Matata" sort of philosophical nugget, or as the group had said previously, quoting ancient manuals and Timothy Leary "turn off your mind, relax and float downstream". I may be totally off base, but that's what I get. I can't help but feel this way during these trying times. One can take all the necessary precautions, but I feel like one also needs to relax a bit. Bad things are going to happen, and a lot of the time, they're beyond anyone's comprehension or control. It's best to sit back, relax, roll with the punches, and let it be. Plus stress has been known to reduce immune response. Just saying. 

As for the song, it's enjoyable enough. Very uplifting and emotionally powerful. Seems like 1970 audiences were really into these types of tunes. It's an interesting contrast, because in 2020 every pop hit seems to have a listless, depressing tone about it, and to be honest, the political landscape is pretty similar to those days. Maybe 50 years of the same has just burned everyone out, and there's not that much positivity any more in the mainstream, which is a shame. I hope that this crisis will come to an end soon, and that some hope can come back to the world, and music can rise from the doldrums, all while side stepping the 'Imagine' covers and benefit song templates that reek on insincerity and out of touch celebrities pandering to their audiences.

So, that's it for now. I'll be back soon to take a look at the next Golden Nugget to dominate the airwaves in 1970, 'ABC' by the Jackson Five. Stay safe and stay healthy, stay inside if you're fortunate enough to be able to. As for me, I'm back to my "essential" warehouse job, supplying the tri-state area with ephemeral crap they don't need. See you next time.

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."