#195 My Ever-Changing Moods – The Style Council (1984)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQPPQZ95xTk

 

Shortly after disbanding The Jam, Paul Weller founded the Style Council, which had much more of a blue-eyed soul vibe while continuing with socially-conscious lyrics in much of its material. Like its predecessor, the band racked up numerous hits in England, but it also managed to have some modest success in the U.S., getting as high as #29 with this one and reaching #76 with follow-up release “You’re The Best Thing”.

#194 That’s Entertainment – The Jam (1981)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-H0uIH5HHQ

 

British “mod revival/punk rock” band The Jam was huge at home, but got limited airplay in the States and failed to dent the Hot 100 even once. At some point when the BMG Music Club still existed, I picked up their greatest-hits collection, based on two of their songs I had heard and liked: this one, and “A Town Called Malice”, which was featured prominently in the movie version of Billy Elliot. Quite frankly, none of the 17 other British hits on the CD did much for me, but these two still hold up. Both are catchy, but the largely acoustic “That’s Entertainment” has more coherent (as well as more intelligible) lyrics.

#193 Sideways Walkin’ Dog – Zachary Smith & The Dixie Power Trio (2007)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIkPuiPU-U

 

Zachary Smith & The Dixie Power Trio is a wonderful Virginia-based band that, sadly, doesn’t get up to the Rockville area nearly as often as it used to. While probably best known for their zydeco (the album that this track starts off is entitled Zydeco Dog), their music also includes a mix of “Cajun, New Orleans jazz, funk, street parade, and rock”. “Sideways Walkin’ Dog” is 5:43 worth of funk-flavored jazz, and has been picked up as a favorite of a number of high school jazz bands.

Best Music of 2018

[Updated to reflect listener poll results.]

All in all, quite a good year for recorded music (at least IMHO).

 

Songs (AAA division) 

1. Life To Fix – The Record Company (#48 WXPN Top 50, #83 WTMD Top 89)
2. New Love – The National Reserve
3. Homesick – The Marcus King Band (#26 WXPN, #85 WTMD)
4. I Dreamt We Spoke Again – Death Cab For Cutie
5. Sure Feels Good Anyway – Amy Ray
6. I Don’t Wanna Be Without You – James Hunter Six
7. Severed – Decemberists (#25 WXPN)
8. It Was You – Norah Jones
9. Live In The Moment – Portugal. The Man
10. High Horse – Kacey Musgraves (#2 WXPN)
11. Bad Bad News – Leon Bridges (#5 WXPN, #4 WTMD)
12. Before The Next Teardrop Falls – Al Green
13. Not Many Miles To Go – Rosanne Cash
14. You Worry Me – Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats (#30 WXPN)
15. I’d Rather Go Blind – Grace Potter
16. Feed The Fire – Dawes (#37 WXPN)

Songs (other) 

1. Pray For Me – The Weeknd & Kendrick Lamar
2. One Kiss – Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa
3. No Roots – Alice Merton
4. New Rules – Dua Lipa
5. Nice For What – Drake
6. How Long – Charlie Puth
7. Finesse – Bruno Mars & Cardi B
8. Growing Pains – Alessia Cara
9. Attention – Charlie Puth
10. Boo’d Up – Ella Mai 

Albums 

1. Whatever It Takes – The James Hunter Six
2. Passwords – Dawes
3. She Remembers Everything – Rosanne Cash (#7 mvyradio Top 25)
4. Golden Hour – Kacey Musgraves
5. Thank You For Today – Death Cab For Cutie (#18)
6. Motel La Grange – The National Reserve
7. All Of This Life – The Record Company
8. 13 Rivers – Richard Thompson
9. Tearing At The Seams – Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats (#4)

Comic of the Day #9 – December 7, 2018

https://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2018/12/07

The Seldom Scene w/ Maybe April -- Weinberg Center for the Arts (Frederick MD), 11/9/2018

Row E, Seats 114-115 (center section on the left aisle)

 

The Seldom Scene displayed their usual virtuoso musicianship and vocal harmonies in a 75-minute set Friday evening before a large, appreciative crowd. As usual, the band’s repertoire ranged far and wide, including blues (“Rollin’ and Tumblin’”), gospel (the stunning vocals of “I’ll Be No Stranger There”), and even Rat Pack (“The Small Exception Of Me”, popularized by Dean Martin). They also covered songs made famous by James Taylor (“Sweet Baby James”), John Fogerty (“Big Train (from Memphis)”), and Arlo Guthrie (Steve Goodman’s “City Of New Orleans”). Other standouts included “Through The Bottom Of The Glass”, “California Cottonfields”, and the haunting “Blue Ridge”. Overall, the show was great enough that I forgave them for not getting to “Wait A Minute”, my personal favorite.

 

Americana-inspired country trio Maybe April did a nice job in their 40-minute opening set, despite the absence of one member of the trio. (“Oliver” did a fine job as a fill-in “frontwoman”, taking the lead instrumental role on all of the material.) Even reduced to two parts rather than three, their vocal harmonies sounded fine, and the material was surprisingly strong, notably on the opening “Blush”, “California”, and the closing “Isabel”.

Comic of the Day #8 – October 30, 2018

http://zitscomics.com/comics/october-30-2018/

The immigration conversation we need to have — and soon

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-immigration-conversation-we-need-to-have--and-soon/2018/10/23/3921ea36-d709-11e8-a10f-b51546b10756_story.html?utm_term=.d13bbe170102

Remembering John Wicks

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/remembering-john-wicks-a-uk-pop-genius-who-once-called-virginia-home/2018/10/13/9fa93652-cd80-11e8-a3e6-44daa3d35ede_story.html?utm_term=.87c0d2223fb9

 

Great column by the Post’s John Kelly about the recently-deceased lead singer of the Records, with shout-outs to WHFS, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and the power-pop classic “Starry Eyes” (which he co-wrote).

If legalized gambling is the future, our sports are really in trouble

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/if-legalized-gambling-is-the-future-our-sports-are-really-in-trouble/2018/10/05/61c4755e-c727-11e8-b2b5-79270f9cce17_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.912de9bff65b

 

Thoughtful column by the always-insightful Tom Boswell.