I can never get enough Bon Iver + grand piano.
Since we are three-quarters of the way through 2012 already, I thought it was worth sharing the albums I have liked the most so far this year.
To be clear: This is not an attempt to reach Pitchforkian levels of obscurity in my choices. While I love music — and new music — I try to avoid the snobbery that comes with being “into” music.
This list is also not meant to be comprehensive. Just the stuff I find myself coming back to again and again to listen to.
Caveats dispatched. Let’s do this thing.
* The Lumineers, “The Lumineers”.
* Father John Misty, “Fear Fun”.
* Kelly Hogan, “I like to keep myself in pain”.
* Diamond Rugs, “Diamond Rugs”.
I am an endless search for new, good music. (Good is harder to find than new.) A friend of mine named John Moye turned me on to The Lumineers, who sound like a cross between Edward Sharpe and Old Crow Medicine Show.
Check them out. Here.
A GREAT Black Keys profile on CBS Sunday Morning
As a kid, I remember looking with disdain at Bob Dylan. My dad was a BIG fan and had all of Dylan’s records. (And, yes, I know I am old.) If my dad liked Dylan, he couldn’t possibly be cool, I concluded.
In college, I started to actually listen to Dylan. And quickly I became obsessed. I now go through phases where I literally listen to nothing other than Dylan for weeks at a time.
All of which got me to thinking: Which is Dylan’s best album ever?
I am partial to:
1. Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (Blowin’ in the Wind, Girl From North Country, Hard Rain, Don’t Think Twice, Corrina Corrina)
2. Highway 61 Revisited (Like a Rolling Stone, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, Queen Jane Approximately, Ballad of a Thin Man, Desolation Row)
What say you?
There is SO much amazing music here.
I was WAY into hip hop as a teenager. I got way out of it during my 20s and have, largely, missed the whole Lil Wayne era. But, at he recommendations of the Post music critic — Chris Richard (@chris__richards on the Twitter machine) I have started to get back into hip hop.
My current favorite is this Drake album. Amazing.
The new Alabama Shakes album is (finally) here. Listen!
Of Monsters and Men > Civil Wars
Bruuuuuuce! (Verizon Center. April 1, 2012)