10.3.16
It’s early October. We’ve still got three months left in 2016 and a bunch of albums will be released in that time but my favorite album of the year has already been decided: Sara Watkins’ Young in All the Wrong Ways. Arriving at this conclusion and realizing what a surprise it was, as I was unaware of her work before hearing this album, I decided to put together a playlist of my picks for Album of the Year for the past four years, each of which were equally surprising.
2013 Pearl Jam Lightning Bolt
This album came out of nowhere for me. Pearl Jam’s first three albums made a huge impact on me just as I was really getting into music. I’ve always been a “fan” because of that but after Vitalogy nothing ever resonated with me. Then I went to see Nine Inch Nails at a hockey arena. I left about 5-6 songs in, not because they were bad necessarily. The setting and the crowd just wasn’t for me. So as I waited in Newark for a train, on a whim I put on Lightning Bolt which had come out that day and have been hooked on it ever since. I even have a tattoo somewhat inspired by the song Lightning Bolt, so stick that in the “fun facts” file.
2014 Ryan Adams Ryan Adams
Most of my friends are big into Ryan Adams but by the time I decided I should check him out, his catalogue was so intimidatingly vast that I didn’t know where to start. Then one night I went to see Bob Mould with friends. We were discussing Ryan Adams when he walked right past us. Then he kept showing up wherever we ended up in the venue. After the show I freaked out Bob Mould by drunkenly telling him that we followed Ryan around all night and then about a week later my friend suggested I listen to his self titled album and it is one of my absolute favorite albums. To this day it’s still the only album of his that has clicked for me, but this is definitely an all-time album in my book.
2015 Jesse Malin New York Before the War
Ever get blown away by seeing an artist live and then on the way home with the perfect buzz of half a pot brownie (never a whole!) and a couple beers discover an entirely different artist who turns out to be a complete game changer?? I’m fortunate to say that I have- the night I saw Mark Lanegan perform a mind blowing set and then on the train ride home I discovered Jesse Malin via his 2015 masterpiece New York Before the War. There are so many things about that night that I will never forget. Those kinds of nights are pretty great. Even though I didn’t hear this album until 2016, it was released in 2015 and tops everything I heard from that year so I’m posthumously declaring it my favorite album of 2015. Now I have to go look up “posthumously” and figure out if I used it correctly.
2016 Sara Watkins Young in All the Wrong Ways
As with the three previous albums that I’ve written of, I came across Young in All the Wrong Ways in a fairly unique way. It has to do with Paul Thomas Anderson and Fiona Apple and if you’re not already disgusted by my pop culture name drops then I’ll tell you the full story the next time we run into each other. This album cuts right through to my soul. Each listen brings me new joy- her voice, the drums (goddamn, the drums!!), the sequencing, the lyrics…shall I go on?!? We’ve all heard albums and felt like they were singing the words directly to us. The lyrics on this album, almost eerily, feel like they are describing my life. This is an album that’s going to be with me for a long time. I am so glad that I found it. Thanks PT and Fiona. And don’t worry…I’ll show myself out.
Nerd Bonus Content:
Favorite shows of 2016-
4.9.16 Legendary Shack Shakers, Coach N Commando Dunellen, NJ
6.17.16 Bill Burr Newark, NJ
6.23.16 Mark Lanegan NYC, NY
9.10.16 JD Wilkes solo Rehoboth Beach, DE
Still to come…
10.5.16 Sara Watkins NYC, NY
10.14.16 Jesse Malin Maplewood, NJ
12.2.16 Slim Cessna’s Auto Club Brooklyn, NY
Suburban Bourbon 