Sound Obsession

Another year done and gone, and what a great year for music.  These are my top ten favorite albums of 2024, in alphabetical order by artist name . . . . 49 Winchester:   Leavin' This Holler     (New West - 8/2/24) This six-piece country rock outfit out of southwest Virginia is one of independent roots music's greatest success stories in recent years, and one of my favorites - soundtracking many a road trip and impromptu singalong.  Comfort food embodied in music.  The title of their fifth album, Leavin’ This Holler , may as well be metaphorical as it finds the band spreading their wings and reaching for wider horizons.  Following their breakout album from 2022, Fortune Favors The Bold , here we get even more expansive compositions featuring sweeping strings and thundering choirs, finding the band in more sophisticated spaces without compromising their down home Appalachian sensibility. ...

"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 blu...

Willie Nelson & Sturgill Simpson, The Anthem, Washington DC - 5/27/18 Ghost, Warner Theater, Washington DC - 5/20/18 Ghost, Warner Theater, Washington DC - 5/20/18 Ghost, Warner Theater, Washington DC - 5/20/18 Ghost, Warner Theater, Washington DC - 5/20/18 Fu Manchu, Rock & Roll Hotel, Washington DC - 5/9/18 Power Trip, Black Cat, Washington DC - 5/8/18 Beck, The Anthem, Washington DC - 4/27/18 Dan Auerbach, 9:30 Club, Washington DC - 3/22/18 High On Fire, Rock & Roll Hotel, Washington DC - 2/6/18 High On Fire, Rock & Roll Hotel, Washington DC - 2/6/18 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, 9:30 Club, Washington DC - 1/29/18 Spoon, 9:30 Club, Washington DC - 12/31/17 Spoon, 9:30 Club, Washington DC - 12/31/17 Spoon, 9:30 Club, Washington DC - 12/31/17

2015 was an exceptional year for music.  Here are my top-ten favorite albums of 2015, and check out my ten runners-up and honorable mentions .  Hey, better late than never.  Enjoy. . . . 1. Ghost: Meliora (8.5/10) Meliora is Ghost's third LP, released in late summer of 2015. The title is a Latin adjective meaning "better" and so it is that the album continues an upward trajectory for the Swedish occult-metal band, adding to their mock-ecclesiastical mythos. Ghost's breakout debut Opus Eponymous mined a spooky mediaeval aesthetic exemplified by a traditional proto-metal sound, while their playful sophomore album Infetissumam (previously reviewed here ) skewed baroque, incorporating disparate elements like disco, surf-rock, and choral music. By contrast, Meliora is the band's take on 20th century modernity and futurism (its cover references Fritz Lang's 1927 sci-fi film Metropolis ) . Accordingly, on Meliora , the band's musical palette...

Kurt Vile & The Violators, 930 Club, Washington DC - 10/8/15 Sturgill Simpson, Lincoln Theater, Washington DC - 9/23/15 Ghost, The Fillmore, Silver Spring MD - 9/22/15 Ghost, The Fillmore, Silver Spring MD - 9/22/15 Ghost, The Fillmore, Silver Spring MD - 9/22/15 Ghost, The Fillmore, Silver Spring MD - 9/22/15 Ghost, The Fillmore, Silver Spring MD - 9/22/15 Ghost, The Fillmore, Silver Spring MD - 9/22/15 Eagles of Death Metal, 930 Club, Washington DC - 9/15/15 Eagles of Death Metal, 930 Club, Washington DC - 9/15/15 Chelsea Wolfe, U Street Music Hall, Washington DC - 9/11/15 High on Fire, Baltimore Soundstage, Baltimore MD - 8/20/15 Pallbearer, Baltimore Soundstage, Baltimore MD - 8/20/15 Lucifer, Baltimore Soundstage, Baltimore MD - 8/20/15 Failure, 930 Club, Washington DC - 8/11/15 Hum, 930 Club, Washington DC - 8/11/15 Deftones, The Fillmore, Silver Spring MD - 7/31/15 Black B...