No Hiearchy for Old Men

My only criteria: these are albums I listened to repeatedly and all the way through without skipping tracks. I'm not claiming these are necessarily the best pop albums of 2015, but they are the albums of 2015 that I remember so well that I only had to doublecheck the labels that released 'em.

Will Johnson - Swan City Vampires   Undertow, i.e., Self-Released sometime in October 2015.
Chews up and spits out the on-again-off-again tedium of a lot of Centr-O-Matic and his previous solo work for a set of Americana-folk-rock songs that are accessible, memorable, singalongable and produced without the sort of sonic clutter that typically masks a dearth of honest feeling. Some nice stabby 'lectric gitar work, too. A sweet album written and performed by a puss-emitting anus who never replied to my email about it.

The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World.    Capitol.  Released 1/20/15
Reviewers who really ought to know better crapped all over this album for being too long (because obviously concepts like art and value-for-dollars-spent cannot share a point in timespace) and "underambitious" (because no real fan ever wants his favorite band to actually sound like his favorite band). Still and all, and despite Colin Meloy's liberal arts grad student vocabulary, What a Terrible World is genuinely likeable and byandlarge enjoyable start to finish. And just so you'll know, I wouldn't hit a dog in the keister with most Decemberist albums, so there's that, too.

Low - Ones & Sixes.   SubPop. Released  9/11/15
Contrary to popular opinion, Jeff Tweedy really didn't do Low any favors on 2013's Invisible Way, but happily he also didn't turn them into the Wilco cover band of his dreams. (Not that there would be anything wrong with a Wilco cover band, but one really is enough, and Parker and Sparhawk's voices, together or apart, are simply too good for that sort of treatment.) I became an instant Low fan at the first sound of their harmonized "And I can hear 'em" on I Could Live in Hope [1994]. 20some years later and those voices are as lush and affecting as ever. And Low, at its best, has to be about those two voices, not extra instrumentation or whateverinhell "emotional generosity" is supposed to be.

Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear.  SubPop.  Released  2/10/15
Considering the lyrical content of a number of the tracks on this album, I'm guessing that Josh Tillman has piercings that I want to know nothing about. I also can't shake the feeling that—assuming Tillman is as snobby, meanspirited, and self-involved as the persona constructed by his lyrics—I'd push the li'l pischa in front of a speeding tractor trailer if I actually knew him. Nevertheless, the songs on Honeybear are simple but nicely crafted, the production slick & grand but not Billboard-hokey, and the lyrics consistently interesting if not witty or downright funny. And, yeah, people are kinda boring, if I'm honest. It's just the cute ones make up for that, is all.

I also remember liking ... Beirut - No No No (even tho' it didn't sound like Beirut), Deerhunter - Fading Frontier (altho' the best track, "Snakeskin," doesn't really fit), Kurt Vile - Believe I'm Goin' Down... , Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (just not something I can take a steady diet of), Wilco - Star Wars, Beach House  - Depression Cherry, Destroyer - Poison Season, Waxahatchee  - Ivy Tripp (or so I'm told), Jennylee - Right On!, Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Style, Schlomo - Deep Red, El Vy - El Vy (even if it does sound like a National parody), and Swervedriver - I Wasn't Born to Lose You (despite the evident age-related drop in testosterone). Been there...

The Dream of the 90's Lives on Next Week

Sometimes there comes a week that makes almost everyone at Von's Records happy...almost.

Rabbit is always heartened when a beloved 90's band  bursts back onto the scene with a good album. This week, we have two releases that have most of us here giddy with anticipation. Sleater-Kinney is back after their nine year hiatus with what critics are calling one of their best albums to date. Check out the video for the album's title track "No Cities to Love" featuring Carrie Brownstein's Portlandia costar Fred Armisen along with a bunch of other people you may recognize.

I've listened to this album streaming on NPR a few times now. It is excellent.

Next week also brings us the first full album of new content in five years from another 90's favorite, Belle and Sebastian. Dr. McNinja has been talking up Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance around the shop like crazy, but don't take his word for it because he's not actually a doctor! I, your friendly neighborhood Hawkguy give this album my full endorsement. If you're into music that manages to be both lyrically rich and incredibly fun to listen to, look no further.

The final album of note debuting next week is the return of the Decemberists after their five year break after 2010's excellent The King is Dead. Bearded Sad Man almost cracked a smile when their new album, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World was announced. Their new music video brought tears to his eyes...well, more tears. 

So, there you have it. Three reasons to be excited for new music to put in your earholes this coming Tuesday. I'm sure you'll be hearing all of us here playing this stuff for the next few months. Well, everyone except George Washington Christ who hates all things 90's as well as anything that brings joy to others... He'll probably just be listening to his depressing folk singers wishing the rest of us would go ahead and die already... 

Watch this Video or Tyler Kills a Puppy. Don't Let This Happen.

So yeah. New Decemberists. Get the fuck on this.

Beards

I can't believe I missed this.  Chief's Modern Rituals is awesome!  It reminds me of the bastard child of the Walkmen circa A Hundred Miles Off singing their cover of Mazarin's "Another One Goes By" as channeled through some of the Decemberists' more normal moments.  ...Did that even make sense?