Albums 2018 - Top Ten

"Everything except country.”

That was my unhesitant reply for many years when asked "what kind of music do you like?" Reinforced by the mental image of Garth Brooks flying over a stadium audience on a wire-rig in the early 90’s, the genre was incomprehensible to me, if not reprehensible. It just wasn’t my thing, and never would be.

Lately, however, I'm never quite sure what genres and artists will inspire me year to year - only that I’ve tried to keep an open mind and am prone to odd musical obsessions. This year, it finally turned out to be country music. It shouldn't have come as a surprise. Chris Stapleton's soulful companion albums From A Room Vol. 1 and From A Room Vol.2 topped my favorites list last year and Sturgill Simpson's experimental A Sailor's Guide To Earth made that list the year before.

Maybe nostalgic childhood memories of Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Waylon Jennings softened me up. More recently, perhaps it was bluegrass on the radio driving up to college in central Pennsylvania, personal detours into the subdued Americana of Calexico and Neko Case, Jack White’s rootsy excursions, or the steel guitar of my favorite contemporary rock band Queens of The Stone Age. Full disclosure, I’m also a longtime employee of an indie record label with a treasure trove of iconic American roots recordings going back at least seven decades – some of which will be featured in the forthcoming Ken Burns’ documentary series “Country Music.”

Over a hundred years or more, rural agrarian and blue-collar Americans have developed and disseminated their own regional styles of music, drawing from old English, Celtic, and African sources, blending in both religious and early twentieth-century commercial compositions too. These interconnected musical traditions were once packaged by the recording industry under the general term “hillbilly music” - eventually, country music.

“Three chords and the truth” is how mid-century country music songwriter Harlan Howard described the genre. There’s a certain sincerity and sentimentality to it, which many music fans find off-putting. I’m reminded of a meme I once saw that made me chuckle - “country music is just farm emo.”

Fair enough, insofar as the genre does hinge on certain melodramatic tropes - home, family, romance, isolation, loss, heroes, demons, redemption, and sin. But country holds songcraft, lyricism, vocal prowess, and instrumental competence to high standards. It has a rich history, a deep well of anthems, and a complex ecosystem of writers, singers, instrumentalists, and producers any music geek should find engaging. I certainly do, and that’s why my year was dominated by country music.

The following ten albums are my favorites of 2018. I’ve chosen not to rank them this year, so they’re listed in alphabetical order by artist name. Any of these could be my favorite depending on the day of the week, however if I had to grab one for the desert island, it’d be Brent Cobb’s Providence Canyon.

Have a listen. Maybe you’ll change your mind too. Enjoy. . .

Arctic Monkeys:  Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (Domino - 5/11/18)

Sheffield, UK, lads Arctic Monkeys follow up their previous stadium-rock opus with an odd but rewarding curiosity - a dense collection of absurdist tongue-twisters written and performed almost entirely on piano instead of guitar, led by a sleazy lounge lizard, Alex Turner. Crooning like an inebriated Major Tom, having long exited and abandoned his floating tin can for a hotel piano bar-gig on the moon, Turner cleverly riffs on modernity, technology, pop-culture, relationships, and politics. Don't call it the Arctic Monkeys’ Kid A, but it does blaze a new trail for the band and might be their best album yet.

Blackberry Smoke:  Find A Light (3 Legged Records - 4/6/18)

This Atlanta, GA, based five-piece are about as close as we get these days to the now defunct Black Crowes, only this band trades Faces glam for earnest working-class rock anthems and introspective country ballads closer in style to Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers. Featuring the occasional gospel choir, guest vocals by Jason Isbell's spouse Amanda Shires, and virtuoso steel guitar from Robert Randolph, the band's sixth studio album, released on their own independent label, hits the sweet spot between life’s good times and bad.

Brothers Osborne:  Port Saint Joe (EMI Nashville - 4/20/18)

This pair of brothers hail from Deale, MD, a small fishing town on the Chesapeake Bay just an hour's drive east of Washington, DC. Now based in Nashville, TN, with arms full of industry accolades piled up in just a few short years, this duo aim to uproot pop-country music's status quo with their bombastic sophomore album. Produced with radio and arena domination in mind by super-producer Jay Joyce in his Gulf Coast beach home, this album keeps things organic and traditional with fiddle jams and country waltzes, while stretching out confidently into psychedelic rock, soul, and New Orleans-style funk.

Brent Cobb:  Providence Canyon (Elektra - 5/11/18)

Brent Cobb has a certain pedigree to uphold and does so with aplomb and finesse on his third studio album. Brent's the younger cousin of super-producer Dave Cobb, but he's honed his craft over many years as a successful Nashville songwriter. With a laid-back southern Georgia drawl and a talent for introspective lyricism he's been called "the redneck Paul Simon." An apt designation as Brent spins colorful yarns on backwoods adventures and honky-tonk indiscretions, as well as candid odes to lost heroes, lost loves, and life's bumpy road. Backed by a crackerjack country-funk band, with cousin Dave at the studio controls, Brent Cobb delivers my favorite album of 2018.

Ghost:  Prequelle (Loma Vista - 6/1/18)

On their fourth studio album, unholy metal titans Ghost up the ante again by introducing a new fictional leader, the mustachioed and side-burned lothario Cardinal Copia (not quite yet a Papa), along with new lyrical themes and sounds. Reflecting zeitgeist anxieties and legal turmoil within the band itself, the primary themes here are the black plague and the unmerciful specter of death itself. Paradoxically, as the band is known for clever subversion, it's all really just an affirmation of life and survival in the face of adversity. As such, the album explodes with triumphant sing-alongs, infectious melodies, juicy guitar riffs, throbbing disco beats, and even some campy saxophone.

High On Fire:  Electric Messiah (eOne - 10/5/18)

Perpetually shirtless, beer-bellied, long haired, with a knack for face melting riffs and a raspy bellow conjured from the pits of hell, Matt Pike is the archetypal metal front man - the genre's quintessential barbarian. Constantly juxtaposed with the late Lemmy Kilmister and his band Motörhead, Pike's High on Fire fully embrace the association on their eighth studio album. Pike draws inspiration from a dream he had in which Lemmy mocked him from the grave, challenging him to birth an album worthy of the comparison. With scorching guitar played at breakneck speed, a barrage of war drums, and producer Kurt Ballou at the studio controls, High on Fire deliver.

Cody Jinks:  Lifers (Rounder - 7/27/18)

Forth Worth, TX, native Cody Jinks wasn't always the underdog country music hero he is today, with his own curated music festival and branded line of cowboy hats. He began his music career howling into a mic in a thrash metal band called Unchecked Aggression. Nevertheless, over five country albums, Jinks hasn't shed the fire and brimstone nor his blue-collar bootstrap impulse. With a warm croon similar to that of Randy Travis, backed by steel guitar and a thumping backbeat, on his latest album Jinks champions the working man and woman - the lifers who rise and fall, and rise again because there's no other choice.

Michigan Rattlers:  Evergreen (Michigan Rattlers - 9/28/18)

This North Michigan trio, comprised of acoustic guitar, upright bass, and keyboards, specialize in a certain Midwestern charm and heartfelt sincerity. Now transplanted to LA and lyrically astute beyond their years, the band’s debut album delivers a collection of vignettes on transience and displacement - the inevitable passage of time, friendships, leaving home, coming home, running toward the ones we love and leaving them behind. It’s no coincidence that so many of these songs are narrated from the inside of a moving car, a mode of transit essential to Angelenos and Michiganders alike, but also a metaphorical statement on life’s perpetual journey.

Mike & The Moonpies:  Steak Night at The Prairie Rose (Mike & The Moonpies - 2/2/18)

Country music has always had its archetypal artists, from its traditionalists and sages to its good-timin' jesters and brooding outlaws. Austin, TX, band Mike & The Moonpies play the lovable rogues - just as capable with a sentimental tear-in-your-beer shuffle as with a shit kickin' two-step boogie. Like a honky-tonk A-Team, this hotshot six-piece are a well-oiled machine who get the job done - road warriors with a reputation for putting on a great show and putting out a great album too. Their fourth studio outing is chock-full of clever wordplay, observational humor, introspective balladry, and expertly played instrumentation.

Whitey Morgan & The 78's:  Hard Times & White Lines (Whitey Morgan Music - 10/26/18)

Burly outlaw Whitey Morgan, by way for Flint, MI, returns from a lengthy hiatus to set the heathens straight, but instead of stone tablets he arrives with his fourth tome of slow-burning, whiskey-soaked parables. Here an evening at the honky-tonk is no joke, it's a hellscape where men drown in a bottle. An evening at the motel isn't quite so restful, it's a glimpse into the dismal world of junkies and hookers. Taking the midnight shift at the auto-factory isn't a career, it's an inevitable backslide to unemployment. It's not all doom and gloom, though. Morgan lets some light in with a stellar cover of ZZ Top's "Just Got Paid," strutting confidently on a pounding backbeat.

Check out my 2018 runners up and honorable mentions.