December 29, 2018 CHIRP Radio Playlist (Show #412)

I played songs from my Top 40 LPs of 2019, with #20-1 next week!

9:00 AM #40 FACS • Silencing • Negative Houses • Trouble in Mind

9:04 AM Eurythmics • Beethoven (I Love to Listen To) • Savage • RCA

9:09 AM Wet • 11 Hours • Still Run • Columbia

December 22, 2018 CHIRP Radio playlist

9:01 AM Michael Carpenter • Love and Mercy • By Request Volume 2 • Big Radio

9:04 AM Mavis Staples • Christmas in Love • Holiday Heroes• Soul Purpose

9:08 AM Sarah Louise • Rime • Nighttime Birds and Morning Stars • Thrill Jockey

My Top 40 albums of 2018

Another swell year for music, and another year where I couldn't possibly keep up with all of the good stuff coming out. I listened to about 200 albums this year, and these are the ones that I played the most and stayed with me the longest. I find that with each batch of 10 records, the ratings are less fine tuned, and I could probably change the order of the bottom 20 and that would be just as satisfactory to me. But I have to lock it in some time, and now is that time.

1. Superchunk – What a Time to Be Alive (Merge): This is the third album since Superchunk reactivated, and as terrific as the prior two were, this album uses the fuel of the current presidential administration and comes up with an inspired collection. The songs are classic Superchunk, with a bashing rhythm section, biting lead guitars, and strong melodies and hooks. These are in songs that channel anger and frustration into something hopeful and inspiring. 21st century punk rock tailor made to fuel protest marches.

2. Mitski – Be the Cowboy (Dead Oceans): I saw Mitski at the Pitchfork Blue Stage, and the crowd spilled over to hear her bring the songs off of Puberty 2 to life. I was watching a star in the making. She could have made Puberty 3 (or Puberty 2 II?), but instead of continuing to update ‘90s alt-rock, she upped the ante with a musically diverse collection of songs filtered through a concept that was ideal for her keen observational lyrics. The concise tunes fly by and build resonance like a musical version of Raymond Carver book.

3. Sons of Kemet – Your Queen Is a Reptile (Impulse): This percussive jazz quartet led by British-Bahan wunderkind Shabaka Hutchings plays politically motivated songs that have the power of punk rock. I never could imagine how commanding a saxophone, a tuba, and two drummers could sound, but the songs have a bit of New Orleans second line jazz, funk, Afro pop, and the Carribean exploding through the speakers. As with Superchunk’s album, the political motivation behind the album (how the British monarchy doesn’t represent black immigrants, conveyed through songs about notable black women) gives it an energy and center that never cools off.

December 15, 2018 CHIRP Radio Playlist (Show #411)

9:00 AM Fine Young Cannibals • Ever Fallen in Love • The Raw & The Cooked • I.R.S.

9:03 AM The Pointer Sisters • Fairytale • That's a Plenty • Blue Thumb

9:07 AM Tim Rutili & Craig Ross • Like a Rifle • 10 Seconds to Collapse • Jealous Butcher

December 1, 2018 CHIRP Radio playlist (Show #410)

9:00 AM The Korgis • Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime • Dumb Waiters • Asylum

9:04 AM Bat For Lashes • Pearl's Dream • Two Suns • Astralwerks

9:09 AM Masta Ace & Marco Polo • American Me • A Breukelen Story • Fat Beats