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| Sinners Got Soul Too, Peyton |
Gospel spirit and pop sensibility, perfectly combined, powerfully sung. Essential: "When They Go Low", "Jericho", "Be My Enough". Review here.
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| Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, Arctic Monkeys |
Woozy, weird, confounding and totally addictive. Essential: "Star Treatment", "Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino", "Science Fiction".
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| Negative Capability, Marianne Faithfull |
Hard truths, directly told. Essential: "Misunderstanding", "The Gypsy Faerie Queen", "They Come at Night". Review here.
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| Whistle Down the Wind, Joan Baez |
"A moment captured in a place, it's memory stays strong." The humblest of swansongs (if that's what it turns out to be). Quiet reflection, timeless grace. Essential: "Civil War", "Silver Blade", "The Things That We Are Made Of". Review here.
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| Float Like a Butterfly, Barb Jungr and John McDaniel |
Songs of Sting, in vibrant piano arrangements, performed with deep feeling, wit and insight by a fantastic duo. Essential: "Desert Rose", "King of Pain", " Shape of My Heart". Review here.
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| Lost Souls, Loreena McKennitt |
Mystical, intoxicating songs to bring us home. Essential: "The Ballad of the Fox Hunter", "La Belle Dame Sans Merci", "Lost Souls".
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| My Indigo, My Indigo |
Pristine pop songs excitingly ambushed by percussive turbulence. Essential: "My Indigo", "Out of the Darkness", "Star Crossed Lovers".
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| Dirty Computer, Janelle Monáe |
Calculated in its "wokeness", sure, but with songs this smart, spry and infectious, who's complaining? Essential: "Pynk", "Crazy, Classic, Life", "Django Jane".
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| American Utopia, David Byrne |
"I dance like this..." And we wouldn't have it any other way, David. Essential: "Gasoline and Dirty Sheets," "Everybody's Coming to My House", "I Dance Like This".
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| High as Hope, Florence and the Machine |
The "Cornflake Girl" cover warmed me up, belatedly, to Florence and co. This beautiful and beguiling collection sealed the deal. Essential: "Grace", "Sky Full of Song", "Big God".
Good list! I agree Crazy Classic Life is outstanding and Dirty Computer is a good pop album though I found the 80s Prince references a distraction. I prefer the Florence and the Machine album which has some epic and moving moments. For me, the live version on Stephen Colbert of Everybody's Coming to My House is more fun: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07G4xhSefuI)
ReplyDeleteThanks for link! Great performance, I hadn't seen it before. Looking forward to your lists.
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