SPEW

21.     Wire – Silver/Lead (Pink Flag)           Wire are one of my staples, consistent and consistently surprising: https://spewrocks.blogspot.com/search?q=wire 22.     John Murry – A Short History of Decay (TV)          And then I wrote … https://spewrocks.blogspot.com/search?q=john+murry 23.     Whiffs – Take a Whiff (High Dive)           I liked it then https://spewrocks.blogspot.com/search?q=whiffs … I like it now.   24.     Aldous Harding – Party (4AD) Not that anyone asked, but if Aldous Harding reminds me of any of her contemporaries, it’s Cate LeBon. They both have this striking ability to swing from the confidential to the bel canto stentorian more than once over the course of an album. Harding’s songs, mostly accompanied by her guitar and piano, are koan-like without being obscure. Harding uses space deftly, yet her spare arra...

... SPEW, Best of 2017, phase 2: 31-40. You know, it’s just supposed to get better as you climb the chart. And it does, I think. As good as some of the 41-50 selections are, there’s nothing there I’d say has top 10 potential. With 31-40, some do, definitely.  31.    Necks – Unfold (Ideologic Organ) https://spewrocks.blogspot.com/search?q=necks+unfold See, a review I already did.  32.  Queens of the Stone Age - Villains (Matador)  Josh Homme and Mark Ronson’s production combines dance floor grooves, psych-rock experimentation, and mostly hard ass rock that’s both dirty and machine-tooled. I came to QOTSA in fits and starts, but  Villains  is a modern classic, all dune buggies from hell and sweet menace. The smooth brutality of these guitar lacerations is head banging even listening on an iPhone at low volume. And Homme’s Jack Bruce croon lures as it destroys.  33.   Tony Allen – The Sourc...

Here it is, ladies and gents and humans of all genders and description! Your BEST ALBUMS OF 2017. * Okay, not really. It's 41-50. Hey, pretty damn good records. It's a competitive world.  41.   Chain and the Gang – The Best of Crime Rock (In the Red) 42.   Protomartyr – Relatives in Descent (Domino) 43.   Vivienne – STUD  (Objects Ltd.) 44.   Flamin’ Groovies – F antastic Plastic (Severn) 45.   Kyle Craft – Girl Crazy (Sub Pop) 46.   Bully - Losing    (Sub Pop) 47.   Idles – Brutalism (Balley) 48.   Lee Ranaldo – ElectricTrim  (Mute) 49.   James Elkington – Wintres Woma ( Paradise of Bachelors) 50.   Filthy Friends – Invitation (Kill Rock Stars) Let's have a look: Ian Svenious has been a savvy mainstay of Ameri-indie in the post-hardcore era (you know, like, the last thirty years), with groups like Nation of Ulysses, Make-Up (the ...