Month: January 2018

This is the second part of my completely subjective list of the best music of 2017.  Part I was published on Tuesday. As I noted in Part I, 2017 was a dumpster fire of a year in many ways, but there was also some brilliant music.  I don’t know about all y’all, but, for me, music is an essential component of the good life.  It is almost always playing in our house. Right now I’m listening to Kelly Lee Owens’ most excellent eponymous debut (more on that below).  Then there’s the guitars in the house.  I told a friend of mine this week that I generally do my serious music listening in the car, though.  And in 2017, I drove a lot.  I drove from our (now former home) in Southeastern Tennessee to Vancouver via New Mexico and the Southwest.  Then I drove home from Vancouver along the northern route, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska. It was epic.  Then we moved from Southeastern Tennessee back to Western Massachusetts.  I drove that as well. So there was a lot of time to listen to good music.  So, without further ado: Rainer Maria, S/T (Polyvinyl)  I don’t know how I never listened to Rainer Maria in their first go-round in the 00s.  But my buddy Karl got all excited about this new one on Facebook, so generally respecting his opinion (and his taste in hockey...

Over New Year’s, we gathered with friends, decompressed, and tried to be optimistic.  We started referring to 2017 as a dumpster fire.  That dumpster fire followed 2016’s tire fire.  It’s been a rough couple of years, starting with the elephant in the room.  And ending with that same elephant.  We lost a lot of musicians in 2017, too.  From Chris Cornell to Chester Bennington, we also lost Chuck Berry, the rapper Prodigy, Glen Campbell, Gregg Allman, Malcolm Young, Fats Domino, and Tom Petty. And, Canada lost its de facto poet laureate, Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie.  For a good Canadian lad like myself, losing Downie hurts.  And I hadn’t got over losing my hometown boy Leonard Cohen in 2016. But, in all of this, 2017 left behind some great music.  This is Part I of my completely subjective list of great 2017 music, though it also includes some 2016 music because I didn’t come across it until 2017.  This list is also in no particular order. Indian Handcrafts, Creeps (Sargent House)  A stoner rock duo from Brampton, Ontario, Indian Handcraft’s 2012 album, Civil Disobedience for Losers, has remained on constant play around here for the past 5 years.  Creeps continues on their formula of heavy, sludgy, melodic heavy stoner rock.  Highly recommended. Slow Season, Mountains (Riding Easy Records)  A devastating collection of hard rocking, hard hitting rawk music.  Best suited to pissing off the...