Jade Bird

Album: ‘Jade Bird‘
Year: 2019

When I first heard Jade Bird I thought of Jewel. I thought of the pretty girl with the guitar who wanted to sing about love and sadness, about peace and war, and I wanted to roll my eyes. But, when I sat and really listened to “Lottery” and “Does Anybody Know” I heard something that I didn’t expect: teeth bared and ready to strike.

There’s nothing new with what Bird is doing here but, in this musical climate, she is doing something rare. She wants to talk about the darker side of all of these pop music tropes out there and she doesn’t hold back. She reminds everyone that girls can be as culpable as boys in love, it’s OK for everything to hurt sometimes, and that you are worth as much as you think you do and not by someone else’s appraisal. So, instead of an album that leaves you hopeful and whimsically optimistic about the future, she leaves you with a feeling of grounded security and with eyes a little more open than they were before.

Track of Distinction: “I Get No Joy” is a great track but, really, any track on this album would do. Except “Uh Huh” which is destined to make this year’s annual running mix.

Jenny Lewis

Album: ‘On the Line‘
Year: 2019

It’s almost a disservice to Lewis and all of you to write this post as I am in the process of acquiring the rest of her solo work as well as her work with the band Rilo Kiley. While I do write that I am going to search out more of certain artist because they touched me so, I actually mean it with Lewis. She had me from the first track (see below) and never let go. Her voice enchanted me and her music hit me deep. I like that feeling.

Some might want to credit her very illustrious production ensemble for this album for its charm, but her soul and everything she brings to the table is impossible to fake in post. She assumed command and everyone else seems to be there to accentuate the highs, tone down the lows, and simply play along. Our reward is an album that, if I gave enough of a shit, would be high on my Best of 2019 list. If anything, she has another fan in me and I will spend good time telling everyone I meet to buy this album immediately.

Track of Distinction: “Head’s Gonna Roll,” a fresh post-mortem of sorts to a failed relationship that seemed too intriguing and too wonderous to die, is the kind of song I want to hear more female artists do but seem to be too afraid to

Amanda Shires

Album: ‘Down Fell the Doves‘
Year: 2013

This album is in my library because a friend asked me to find anything I could from her. Being a fan of Jason Isbell, and with her being a consistent collaborator, I kind of knew what to expect. What I didn’t expect was that I would enjoy it.

Sure, most of the tracks rely on the same stylistic attributes and chords time and again, but her voice cuts through much of that to deliver the goods. She doesn’t hit the high notes that often but, when she does, she never misses. Every part of this is organically calculated and produced to amplify her simple-yet-effective sound and her most powerful contribution: her voice.

Track of Distinction: “Stay” is a soft and sultry song that keeps its tempo and is a bit haunting. But I guess that’s what love is, right?

Alicia Keys

Albums:
‘Songs in A Minor‘ (2001)
‘The Diary of Alicia Keys‘ (2003)
‘Unplugged‘ (2005)
‘As I Am‘ (2007)
‘The Element of Freedom‘ (2009)

As much as I bemoan how contemporary female artists are marketed for their sex appeal and not necessarily for their prowess, I can’t get over how Alicia Keys has managed to do both and still walk away with her dignity. She’s the pinnacle of a powerful female singer who isn’t auto-tuned to death but still has a good helping of sex appeal to bring in those who still feel like tits make the woman.

Keys is a warrior of a tribe that will soon be lost for the ages replaced by fake female troubadours and auto-tuned pop princesses. But Keys remains with her stunning vocal acumen, her classical and jazz piano stylings, and her breadth of soul that make her a threat to that invading force. Though she may not win the war, her mark is one that cannot be denied and will linger for as long as there are those of us who want more from our female artists and look to the likes of Keys to deliver.

Track of Distinction: “Superwoman” is the feminist anthem we deserve but possibly not the one we need right now.

Alex Clare

Album: ‘The Lateness of the Hour‘
Year: 2011

As I mentioned a while back, I’m a sucker for music from ads and from TV and movies. I sought out this album after I heard “Up All Night” as the opening theme of the short-lived Doctor Who spin-off Class and, as it happens so often, it found its way onto a running mix. What I didn’t know was that this album also housed Clare’s dubstep track “Too Close” that was used in an … ugh … Internet Explorer ad. But don’t let that scare you away.

This album shouldn’t be defined by these two songs, though. It’s a soft pop record at its heart filled with love, soul, tenderness, and some troubadour sensibilities that come through tracks that, quite often, are over-produced. I would love to hear a stripped-down or acoustic version of this album to really find its heart.

Track of Distinction: “Hands Are Clever” is a great blend of Clare’s soul and electronic sides making it one of the more balanced tracks on the album.

Vance Joy

Album: ‘Dream Your Life Away‘
Year: 2014

I have touched on this in the past but I don’t know if I can say it enough: just because you’re moderately good looking, can carry a tune, and know four guitar chords does not mean you should have a record deal. Vance Joy traipsed onto the American music scene with the infectious “Riptide“–the second modern hit to pay homage to Michelle Pfeiffer–and it seemed to pave the path for him to become the next guy with a guitar act for everyone to fall in love with. The problem is this album isn’t what we paid for.

Like other new artists looking to make a splash a compromise was made somewhere to get a song–any song–ready for the radio and draw people in. “Riptide” sounds like nothing else on the album, with its polished and overproduced sound that stands starkly apart from the singer-songwriter troubadour feel of the rest of the album. The lyrics are, at best, spotty with some definite potential once Vance figures out that similies don’t work as well as metaphors and metaphors only work when you build up the subtext around it. This is a good try but not really worth the time.

Track of Distinction: “From Afar” is an anthem for those who respect a woman’s wishes to just be friends despite the feelings that still smolder inside.

Tyrone Wells

Album: ‘Metal & Wood‘
Year: 2010

After coming down from something as heavy as Tupac and Tyler, the Creator, its was nice to let my mind zone out with some simple music. I’ve come to accept that most troubadour music made in the last 20 years or so is just mindless mind candy; something we can put on and ignore while, simultaneously, feeling a bit cultured.

This is not to say Wells’ music is bad. On the contrary, he is very good at what he does. But he doesn’t challenge his listener. He sets himself up as a storyteller and soothsayer in one, tugging on every available heart string until something breaks. The problem is, nothing is really memorable. I want to like this album (that I have no idea how I obtained) but it’s nothing more than fodder for a lazy day and a lazier mind.

Track of Distinction: “Time of Our Lives” is a solid track. A nice way to finish out a really heavy-handed album.

Tori Amos

Albums:
‘Little Earthquakes‘ (1992)
‘Boys for Pele‘ (1996)

As a man, I will never understand what it is to be a woman. Ever. I can only hope for a glimpse into the world through the eyes with those who are both open enough and wise enough to prepare me for what I’m about to see and feel. Tori Amos has opened a window to the world through her eyes and, if I’m being honest, the view is shocking and a bit horrifying. But, if I may conjecture, I guess that is the female experience in this world.

There is a tenderness in Amos’ voice and words that paint vibrant pictures of a world where love hurts, strength comes from within, and power is a fickle torch that can both illuminate and burn depending on the grip. Her voice begs to silence and then fills any space with lyrics that seem both so familiar and so foreign simultaneously. There has been a loud cry recently to reject the notion that we are all unique and that is simply not right. Music like hers can show people that we are all special and, even if you can only identify with her music on a superficial level, it can be the mirror in which we finally see our true selves.

Track of Distinction: The dark and brooding “Precious Things” will give you chills and maybe prompt you to call up the jerk who bullied you in school.

Sara Bareilles

Albums:
‘Little Voice‘ (2007)
‘Kaleidoscope Heart‘ (2010)
‘The Blessed Unrest‘ (2013)
‘What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress‘ (2015)

It’s hard for me not to compartmentalize artists that I like but don’t have a huge impact on my listening habits. This is not a judgment on their abilities–they wouldn’t make a list like that if they annoyed me–just a way I think of artists I like but don’t push me. I like Renoir but his work does not transform my life. Sara Bareilles is like that, too. I love her music but, at the end of the day, she is put in a drawer in my mind with KT Tunstall, Katy Perry, Michelle Branch, Jack Johnson, John Mayer and other artists who are good but aren’t the paradigm-shifters that make it into my regular rotation. If I hear “Love Song” or “King of Anything” on the radio, I wont change the station. But will those songs make it onto my iPod when all of this is over? Well …

There is something that sets her apart from the others and that is her ability to move about the spectrum of emotion without falling squarely into the pit of pop hell. She works hard on her songs to make them stand out from one another just like the contents of a box of crayons. Though going through this music took a bit of time, never once did I feel like her songs were just updated copies of others. Each have a distinct personality that, while exceptionally difficult to do, makes the experience more worthwhile. And while picking up her next album will be something I’ll do out of reflex, I hope it shows her continued growth as a songwriter and continues to be a pleasure to hear.

Track of Distinction: “Manhattan” can be taken either as a moody, depressing song about loss or as the story of a woman who is cutting ties with something so big in her life because she knows that, no matter how big that loss, there’s a whole world out there just waiting for her to make her newest mark. I like to see the optimistic side of this song, but you are entitled to your own interpretation.

Ryan Adams

Albums:
‘Heartbreaker‘ (2000)
‘Gold‘ (2001)
‘Demolition‘ (2002)
‘Rock N Roll‘ (2003)
‘Love is Hell‘ (2004)
‘Cold Roses‘ (2005)
‘Jacksonville City Nights‘ (2005)
‘29‘ (2005)
‘Easy Tiger‘ (2007)
‘Cardinology‘ (2008)
‘Orion‘ (2010)
‘III/IV‘ (2010)
‘Ashes & Fire‘ (2011)
‘Class Mythology‘ (2011)
‘Ryan Adams‘ (2014)
‘1989‘ (2015)

On the surface, it might seem like an artist like Adams, prolific and gifted over the past 15 years of a solo career, is still trying to figure out what kind of artist he wants to be. Is the the soulful crooner? Is he the bashful rocker? A honky-tonk mogul? The introspective singer-songwriter? The answer to this question is he is all of the above, not because he hasn’t found his focus or his talent, but because he has found them. Adams seems to face every new album as a challenge to do something new and different just to see if he can. He’s made a career on daring himself to be different than he was before and, for the most part, it has worked to his advantage.

Not everything he has done has been a winner. ‘Orion,’ Adams’ hard rock album is almost unlistenable. But he tried. He used his voice and his talent and he tried something new. While most artists would be glad to rest on the sound and laurels that came with Adams’ sophomore solo album, ‘Gold,’ Adams went exploring knowing something he may not want to admit: that he hadn’t shown the world everything he is. All of us are complex beings who are seldom pigeonholed into accurate compartments, and Adams is no exception. He doesn’t want to just be known for a music video shot days before 9/11 or for that catchy track that opened the movie Old School, he knows he can be more than that and, by the looks of it, we have seen the many faces of Ryan Adams before us with who knows how many he has left to reveal.

Track of Distinction: This ToD is a unique one because, as I was texting with my buddy, Nick about Ryan Adams and he mentioned this song by name as being one of his stronger tracks. Little did he know that, not only was this song playing in the background of our conversation, I had just marked it to be in consideration for this distinction. The track: “Halloweenhead” from the album ‘Easy Tiger.’ It encapsulates some of Adams’ best traits as an artist–moody, heavy, balances between the angry and the introspective–without the pretension of other tracks. Definitely a great track from an artist who only seems to be gaining steam as the years go by.