Favorite Albums 2024 (Second Half)
by Bill Bentley
Jeremie Albino, Our Time in the Sun. When a musician comes along that does not create songs just for songs’ sake, but genuinely feels like their music on this earth is to be taken seriously, that’s when the magic begins. These people keep rock & roll real, and where would we all be without it? The Best of the Chipmunks Volume 63? Fortunately Jeremie Albino has some deep-feeling thoughts on his mind, and knows the kind of guitar chords to help him share them with power and purity. Producer Dan Auerbach knows exactly how to lend ears and hands. In fact, this feels like Album of the Year in so many ways it makes the thought of a new Albino release in 2025 a wondrous daydream. His is the kind of rock that brings life to Earth and still makes music feel worth worshipping. There is no other place to live, and this planet is still worth saving. That’s the gig.
Milo Bender, The Unspeakable. Life loves mysteries. How else could decades and decades be made up of what we only already know? Milo Binder is the kind of full-tilt artist who isn’t afraid of an empty tape. Maybe that’s why he has waited over 30 years to record a sophomore album, and isn’t worried at all about the years it took. No hurry here. And with songs like “I Should Be Your Man,” “I Asked the World” and “You Must Break the Heart” it feels like even if it takes another 30 years for Mr. Bender’s next release–which would be in 2054–well, let the good times roll. Here’s a musician who takes his time figuring out what he wants to do and then makes sure the time was worth the wait to do it. Milo Bender is one-of-a-kind, and probably knows it. What’s the hurry?
John Cale, Poptical Illusion. It’s smart to remember that when Lou Reed and John Cale glued together in the mid-1960s that rock & roll was still in its infancy. Sure, romance might have ruled the roost in rock then, but when the Velvet Underground roared into New York nightclubs with songs like “Heroin” and “I’m Waiting for the Man,” they nearly had bounties put on their heads and were persecuted for all kinds of musical felonies in the press. No matter, because considering what the aggregation opened the door for in where rock was soon to go was beyond the pale–blue eyes or not. Artists are those who do not stop. All lights green.
Joachim Cooder, Dreamers’ Motel. This is someone who makes such a strong impression, even though he’s centered in a certain quietness, that his music is unforgettable. He is absolutely one-of-a-kind. Joachim Cooder plays a variety of instruments, several almost unpronounceable and originating in seemingly different universes. He now has several solo recordings, each amazing. Which isn’t hard to understand once it’s clear the kind of musical discoveries he’s had in his life, and the way he continues to chase new ones with a full-on heart and never-ending soul. The man’s true calling card is how his music is able to float in air. What the musician is able to do is a blend of percussion, string, vocals and other wonders without names into a breathing sound completely its own. All is truth.
George Ducas, Long Way from Home. Straight outta Houston town now, here’s a country singer that sounds like he’s been there–either in the rodeo or on trail rides–and is looking forward to doing it again. His songs also feel like he’s seen the outsides of being locked out of the house, and standing empty-handed in the driveway when his semi-new ride gets repossessed. Ducas just has that ring of reality in some of the best songs of this century, and can deliver them with a down home voice that doesn’t have to hide. It’s just all there. Produced by Pete Anderson, no stranger to reality and hit songs himself, he knows the way to deliver them full-on. Do not miss the kind of music to share the world with while we can. Twang and bang.
Joe Ely, Driven to Drive. During the crazy mixed-up ’70s in Austin, several artists–often wearing cowboy hats–popped their heads through the clouds: Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver and most indubitably, Joe Ely. He had a rock & roll heart and a penchant for taking his untoppable band to the limit. Ely wrote songs along with comrades Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore like they had fallen out of the Lubbock trees–what few there were–with talent that is rarely heard, especially all in one place. From those times to today Joe Ely has carved his name with a Bowie knife among the greats, and ridden righteously right into the Book of the Best. There aren’t many who can record for 50 years and never have to worry about all they’ve accomplished. Drive to thrive.
Amy Helm, Silver City. There are a few singers traipsing the world right now who have such a solid connection with the other side of life that their music often feels surrounded by clouds and cumberlands. Amy Helm comes by her heritage righteously–the child of Libby Titus and Levon Helm–but has earned every note she’s ever sung and song she’s ever written the down-on-the-ground way: in reality. The woman’s power is 100-proof, and every bandstand she’s ever graced and band she’s ever fronted has been the better for it. It’s a true fact that Helm just keeps getting stronger and stronger, and now she’s landed at the top of the mountain. Accept no substitutes.
Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets, Indoor Safari. Now that so-called civilization is rolling into 2025, taking a hard look at rock & roll can be a little discombobulating. But so be it. The music still is capable of a life-giving wonder that hopefully never stops, and allows Nick Lowe to stay on the forefront of the battlefield as long as he can. There is no replacing the English wizard, even if his band has taken to wearing wrestler’s masks to protect the innocent. Lowe’s way with a song is beyond compare, and how he continues to rock and roll stretches right into infinity. The boppin’ Brit might be taking his safari indoors now, but he’s still able to bag the musical big game and come home alive. There are very few–ever–who can consistently write rock & roll songs that always feel like they could be from any variety of eras and be right at home. The word “timeless” very often is overused, but in Saint Nick Lowe’s place, it’s a very true fact he belongs to whatever time he is living in, and doesn’t need to change what he’s doing to nail the contemporariness of what’s all around him. 100 percent real.
Charles Lloyd, The Sky Will Still be There Tomorrow. When music enters through a different door, it’s time to tune in the sound on a different listening frequency and find how change will always be exciting. Jazz fills that feeling with lights on and souls open. There is something about pure improvisation that sends sonic thrills through the light and body and has as a way of rejuvenating the inner being immediately. And even though it’s been over a 100 years of spreading brightness, the music of the spheres that jazz musicians are capable of spreading continues to offer a refereshing course in living wherever it lands. Charles Lloyd has been doing just that for a lifetime, starting in Memphis where he grew up, and shows no sign of slowing down now. With this trio of illustrious players–Jason Moran, Brian Blade and Larry Grenadier–this is an album that will be forever sought when the call comes to enter the levitation zone. Do not despair.
Mindy Smith, Quiet.The young woman may have spent much of her life living on Long Island, but when Mindy Smith found her birth parents located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia the circle became unbroken. Smith’s music had always contained plenty of rural influences, and when she started recording this winning new release everything started to make complete sense. Songs like “Every Once in a While” and “I Always Will” are all-timers, and with a voice equal parts courageous and challenging, this is a singer who deserves to be heard. Near the album’s end, “Hour of Departure” featuring Daniel Tashian, is an instant classic. It’s the kind of song that feels like a stand is being taken that sums up where this woman is going and how she’s going to get there. Let freedom ring.
Dwight Yoakam, Brighter Days. It’s been 40 years since this man stepped onto the national stage with a 6-song EP on Oak Records, but for those who ran into that EP back then around the streets of Los Angeles and elsewhere it is no surprise Dwight Yoakam has become one of the most exciting and dependable musicians of the second half of the past half-century. There is something so dynamic and flat-out exciting about Yoakam’s recordings and concerts, it’s a sure-fire bet he will light the world with wonder wherever he’s heard. For BRIGHTER DAYS, every track feels like firecrackers are going off all around, and it’s an absolute joy: Dwight Yoakam is back in town. In fact, BRIGHTER DAYS is one of the very best albums–country or otherwise–of this century. There is a feeling of belief on every track, backed by a band that has lit the fuse from note one and riding out the pure power to the end of each song. It’s an undeniable celebration of what great music is capable of, and a journey into the future of where it is going. Brighter days forever.
Best Reissue of 2024
Roy Head, Treat Her Right: The Backbeat Recordings. Once upon a time in 1950s Texas, there was a student living near San Marcos who got possessed by rock & roll and rhythm & blues. Seriously possessed. Before he was 18 years old Roy Head had a full-tilt band and was playing paid gigs at places like the Eagle Rock Ranch in Wimberley and other spots for revved-up teenagers ready to boogie. On top of that, the high school student could do a variety of wlld-eyed dances to go along with his music to light an audience up. Head was ready to conquer the world, no matter what shenanigans it took: splits, somersaults, microphone magic, anything. Not to mention a voice that sounded like it came from another realm. Roy Head was ready for stardom, and when the man’s national hit “Treat Her Right” exploded in 1965 history was made. Head was recording then for Backbeat Records, a subsidiary of Don Robey’s mega-blues label Duke Records (2809 Erastus Street in Houston for inquiring minds) and hitting the charts with an unerring sound. This 14-song vinyl collection is the first of its kind since those blasting years. Reissue producer David Katznelson is a well-known fanatic of all kinds of collections, and supplying the world with a true-blue Roy Head compilation is surely a key to unending life. Treat him right.
Revisit the First Half of Bill’s favorite albums here: FAVORITE ALBUMS 2024 (FIRST HALF) By Bill Bentley
Favorite Albums 2024 (Second Half)