Top 20 NMFOF albums of 2015
Well, I wimped out again. I started out trying to create a top 10 list of the best newmusicforoldfolks.com albums of the year, and I just couldn't trim it down. Then a list of the top 14 albums of 2015 didn't make any sense. Then I'd remember another that had to be on the list. The list eventually had 35 albums on it. It had started to get silly, so I cut it to 20. Ranking them wasn't easy either, but if you're going to have a top 20 list, there needs to be a No. 1.
First the criteria, the album had to be by one of the artists profiled on the site so far. This should be music that appeals to the 40-65 age demographic that we've been talking about since the site launched in July. That doesn't necessarily mean that all the artists fit in that age range, but most do. So, here we go:
1) Something More Than Free, Jason Isbell — The follow-up to the equally tremendous Southeastern, Something More Than Free is further proof that Isbell is a star and will be making great music for the next couple of decades. The album is Country without being twangy. It's Rootsy without being hipster. It's thoughtful without being depressing and accessible without being simple. It's music you want to listen to over and over because you'll hear something new every time.
2) Ashes & Dust, Warren Haynes with Rare Earth — This incarnation of Warren Haynes finds him playing Bluegrass/Folk music with the banjo and mandolin set. And it's really good. There are no searing Gov't Mule guitar solos, no Warren Haynes Band style R&B. Just a bunch of great musicians playing good music and you need a copy.
3) Lost Time, Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin — The on-again, off-again relationship of brothers Phil and Dave Alvin has teased the music world with some great music over the years. How much music would they have produced if they'd managed to get along and Dave hadn't left The Blasters in 1986? Now they're going through a late-life reunion with albums in back-to-back years. As great as they are, these two albums make you wonder what kind of music they could have been making together for the last three decades.
4) Outskirts of Love, Shemekia Copeland — Shemekia Copeland has one of the more powerful voices in the Blues and she doesn't waste it on this album. From the very beginning it's clear the Copeland is not a woman to be messed with. The title track leads off the album with a gritty view of people on the edge of society. It paints a bluest of the Blues picture of people mistreated and misused by life.
5) Love Saves The Day, G Love & Special Sauce — Garrett "G Love" Dutton has moved from acoustic Rap (yep, that's a thing) to Blues dominated music with the occasional foray into Hip Hip. OK, I have explained this poorly, but the results are undeniably good. Lucinda Williams and Los Lobos' David Hidalgo are among the guests on the album. Those two names alone should give you an idea what's here.
6) Fear and Saturday Night, Ryan Bingham — Ryan Bingham looked like he was going to be a big star after he won an Oscar in 2009 for writing the music in the Jeff Bridges movie Crazy Heart. While the predicted stardom didn't seem to come, the good music certainly has. Bingham grew up in Texas and his Bob Wills is mixed with a bit of Bob Dylan. He sounds like he's been gargling broken glass, but it works very well.
7) Ol' Glory, JJ Grey & Mofro — This a genre-bending band of Floridians that plays a fun blend of Blues, R&B, Soul and Funk. The newest album, Ol' Glory, is a kick from beginning to end. It starts off with the song below, "Everything Is A Song," and includes the seemingly contradictory tracks "Turn Loose" and "Hold On Tight." It ends with a tribute to the bands second home of New Orleans with "The Hurricane."
8) Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes — Alabama Shakes is a case of music for old folks being made by young folks (the younguns like it too). Singer/songwriter Brittany Howard is a force to be reckoned with. The group combines Southern Soul and Blues Rock. Mix in some Gospel and Country influences and this album is kind all over the place, but in a good way. Check it out. Maybe ask the kids.
9) South Broadway Athletic Club, The Bottle Rockets — I honestly wasn't sure these guys were together anymore when I started their profile. I discovered that the Cow Punk pioneers were not only still together, they'd recently released an album. Now more Cow than Punk, the Bottle Rockets still make great music that's thoughtful but a lot of fun. "It goes so fast, won't slow dow/It's Monday every time I turn around" Really, it's more fun than it sounds. This an incredibly underrated band and this is its best album in a while.
10) Method To My Madness, Tommy Castro & The Painkillers — Tommy Castro has always been a little different than most Blues guitar wizards. His music is usually much more up-tempo and danceable that many of his peers. Castro can do the gut-bucket stuff if the mood hits him, but he doesn't ignore the rhythm in Rhythm & Blues. This a great album for a party. (We're not too old to dance at a party, are we?)
11) All A Man Should Do, Lucero — Singer Ben Nichol's gravely delivery is part Steve Earle and part Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers. All A Man Should Do is Alternative Country with just a touch of Memphis Soul, horns and all. "Can't You Hear Them Howl" is one of my favorite songs of the year. This is a band that's hard to classify, and that's a good thing.
12) Tracker, Mark Knopfler — Had a tough day? Open a good bottle of wine or Scotch, turn the stereo up and get lost in the music of Mark Knopfler. How can the world be a bad place when this guy is still making music? Subtle and small-scale even compared to Knopfler's most recent albums, Tracker is mellow and introspective. Knopfler's distinctive guitar sound is still there, but it's secondary to the song. There aren't really many solos, just beautiful tunes.
13) My Stupid Heart, Shawn Mullins — This is undoubtedly Shawn Mullins' best work since Soul's Core made him famous in 1998. In fact, My Stupid Heart may be better. It probably doesn't have a single that will gain him the kind of airplay that "Lullaby" got, but this album is more consistent from beginning to end. On My Stupid Heart, Mullins seems to embrace the idea that he's a folk singer, not a rock star. That doesn't mean that it's all just Mullins and his acoustic guitar, but it does mean that even when there's a full band behind him he's got something serious to say with his lyrics.
14) Gates of Gold, Los Lobos — If you had to list the greatest American Rock ’n Roll bands of all time, Los Lobos might not make the your top 10. But they would probably make mine. At least the guys from East LA would deserve consideration. I can't believe how many top 20 or even 50 lists I've seen that don't have Los Lobos on them. Gates of Gold is their 17th studio album in a career that spans four decades. And's as good as anything the band has ever done.
15) Second Hand Heart, Dwight Yoakum — If you have to put a label on it, Dwight Yoakum is a Country singer. But that's a label that will send some people searching elsewhere. This isn't Nashville corporate Country. It's Bakersfield Honky Tonk Country. There's a big difference, but whatever you call it, Second Hand Heart is good music. "She said, when I trusted in love, I dreamed in color too," Yoakum sings in the title track. "But memories turn out black and white, at least mine do."
16) Mono, The Mavericks — Back-to-back semi-Country crooners on the big countdown (I guess I'm really counting up). Is there such a thing as Latin Country? Raul Melo is the leader of the genre defying Mavericks. Melo is a Miami-raised Cuban with a distinctive tenor. The band is Tex-Mex and the result is a fun, danceable album that's as good as anything The Mavericks have made since 1994's What A Crying Shame.
17) Go Go Juice, Jon Cleary — Can you have an entire party in 2 minutes, 47 seconds? Put on Jon Cleary's latest album and the brit transplanted to New Orleans will start you off with "Pump It Up." Those of us who bounced up and down on certain dance floors in the 1980s think Elvis Costello when we hear that title. It's a little different, but the effect is the same. If you need more than 2:47 for you party, the rest of the album keeps the Big Easy party going.
18) The Tattooed Lady & The Alligator Man, Marcia Ball — Marcia Ball is to Blues piano what Stevie Ray Vaughan was to Blues Guitar. There certainly were people that came before her (Professor Longhair comes to mind), but "Long Tall" Marcia Ball has picked up the ball and run with it. Ball's newest album is another in a long line of great releases from the first lady of Blues piano. In fact, along with Cleary, she's the best in the business, regardless of gender.
19) Into The Deep, Galactic — Bands don't get much tighter than Funky, progressive Jazz, Jam band Galactic. With drummer Stanton Moore leading the way, the boys from New Orleans have been described as "relentlessly inventive." The problem is that nobody in the band really sings. On Into The Deep, Galactic found a solution, half a dozen of them actually. With guests ranging from JJ Grey, to Macy Gray to Mavis Staples, singing isn't really a problem.
20) Something In The Water, Pokey LaFarge — There have been half a dozen albums have list that, directly or indirectly, I've described as "fun." I take it all back. This one is fun. It's really difficult to adequately describe Pokey LaFarge. The music is equally Americana retro and hipster new. The title track tells the story of a relationship with a midwestern girl. "She does her makeup and hair, to cook fried chicken in her underwear/She drinks malt liquor for lunch and dinner and sends me running scared." There's Something In the Water indeed.
A Dozen More Deserving Mention — Don't Look Back, Royal Southern Brotherhood; The Story of Sonny Boy Slim, Gary Clark Jr.; Little Neon Limelight, Houndmouth; #imsoneworleans, Kermit Ruffins; The Sun & The Sea, Eric Lindell; Restless Ones, Heartless Bastards; Wild Heart, Samantha Fish; Let The Good Times Roll, JD McPherson; Edge of the Sun, Calexico; All Your Favorite Bands, Dawes; Devil Music, Randall Bramblett; Street Dogs, Widespread Panic.
