I seem to have gotten into the habit of including one new release and one 2021 reissue in each of these posts. That wasn't an intentional piece of formatting, but what the hell, let's stick with it for now.
I just read that Billboard's list of the 200 most popular albums of 2021 didn't include a single new rock record. Nothing has made me feel my age so acutely in quite a while, not even my annual notice to renew my AARP membership. In a perfect aging rocker's world, the second album on this list would have been near the top of that one.
*Ray Charles – True Genius: Sides of Ray – It was Frank Sinatra who inadvertently came up with this collection’s title many years ago when he told an interviewer that Ray was “the only true genius in show business.” It’s a difficult assessment to argue. Besides scoring uncounted chart hits, and single-handedly creating music genres, Ray’s been inducted into the Rock and Roll, Country Music, Jazz, and Rhythm & Blues Halls of Fame. Along the way he received the President’s Merit Award, the Presidential Medal for the Arts, France’s Legion of Honor, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the NAACP Image Awards’ “Hall of Fame Award.” Personally, I think Sinatra’s quote is bit of an understatement.
This new collection was created in 2021 primarily to attract listeners on streaming services with a fresh career overview in stellar sound quality. Thankfully, the Charles estate saw fit to approve a beautifully packaged 2 LP version for us vinyl lovers, too. The four sides are thematic – Side one is for soul, the genre he invented during his time with Atlantic records, side two showcases his complete command of jazz & blues, side three is a taste of his astonishing, deeply soulful re-invention of country music in the early 60s, and the last side focuses on his masterful touch with a pop song. No deep/hidden tracks here, this is the best of his best, which makes it an essential listen for any music fan. There will never be another Brother Ray.
EARWORM: “Hide Nor Hair” (1962) – One of my favorites from his early soul repertoire. The voice, the effortless swing, and the sly humor that defined him – it’s all right here.
* The War on Drugs, I Don’t Live Here Anymore – Even though War on Drugs has become one of my most favorite bands in recent years, I skipped writing a review of this one when it first came out because I find it difficult to accurately describe their music. I tried the Pink Floyd meets Bruce Springsteen approach, but that wasn’t quite right. They’re unique enough to need your ears more than my words to get the full picture. Yeah, they can turn out anthemic, dreamy guitar-based rock songs, and the band includes a sax player, but aside from those similarities to the classic rock icons, they are very much their own thing.
The band’s mastermind and chief songwriter is Adam Granduciel, whose penchant for long, melodic songs allows plenty of room for the band to develop intricate, sweeping arrangements. War on Drugs songs flow over the course of their albums like waves, ebbing and flowing between verse and chorus. They don’t have big, immediate hooks, but rather numerous small moments within each song that grab me and don’t let go. A vocal effect here, a guitar solo there, their music swells, jabs, and chimes when you least expect it. There’s a moment that hits me in the feels seemingly around every corner.
I Don’t Live Here Anymore, their fifth album, is the most succinct music they’ve put out so far. The lengthy jamming of their brilliant previous record, A Deeper Understanding, has been trimmed back a bit, but IDLHA is every bit as bewitching and definitely still sounds unlike any other band. It’s an album, like their whole catalog, that benefits greatly from being heard as a complete start-to-finish experience, rather than cherry-picking songs on a streaming service, and maybe that’s part of its considerable appeal for me. I Don’t Live Here Anymore is nothing if not immersive, and I’d strongly recommend diving in. Despite Billboard's lack of recognition, truly great guitar-based rock music is still alive and well.
EARWORM: “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” (2021) – It’s just one piece of a much larger picture, but the title song is a fine example of their sublimely seductive songcraft. L.A. indie-popsters Lucius guest on backing vocals to hammer the hook into your brain.
Comments