From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V16 #3553 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Friday, January 5 2024 Volume 16 : Number 3553 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Top Albums of 2023 [Jeffrey Hanson ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2024 17:02:37 -0800 From: Jeffrey Hanson Subject: Top Albums of 2023 Thinking of Vickie and the grief that Chris must be dealing with. Such a big loss to someone who was so important to this community. So glad I got to see Happybs concert this summer - truly one of my favorite concert experiences. But there hasnbt been a whole lot of music talk on ecto lately so thought Ibd try to get an end of year best of thread going. I know there is a lot of good new music out there. (For those of you that are facebook friends you might have seen some of this before in separate posts.) First off, and what I feel is one of the most creative, musical, and truly revolutionary albums is Renbs Sick Boi. This album is disturbing, passionate, funny, angry, brutally honest and surprisingly catchy. It is hard not to throw terms like genius around when listening to Ren or watching his videos. Having spent 10 years dealing with pain, psychosis and autoimmunity before being correctly diagnosed with Lymebs Disease, Renbs music has been his escape and he uses it to share his experience in truly revolutionary ways. Like Tori Amos his songs contain references to themselves both lyrically and musically giving his music a depth rarely found in pop music. And his videos just add another layer of depth, meaning and artistry. Often filmed in one continuous live take. (See bHi Renb, bThe Money Game, Pt. 3b, bThe Tales of Jenny and Screechb, "Violetbs Taleb, etc. https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mwS4458UPnt4E6O7F9ezh-RXaBnU-E4Mc Veronica Swiftbs self-titled release firmly established her as a new favorite this year. Ibve been a fan since her album This Bitter Earth was released, but the new album is full of a new confidence and the musicianship and recording quality is superb. This album extends her firmly established jazz routes but applies her vocal and scatting abilities to a wide variety of songs from vaudeville, jazz and classical influences to non-jazz standards from Barbara Streisand and rockers like Queen and Nine Inch Nails. This album rocks more than any of her previous and itbs great to see such a fusion of styles in one album, and firmly establishes Veronica as one of the great vocalists of her generation https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lzdRSZyneVS22fQ5Y4Qzj1_KCBGqODE38 Irish singer-songwriter Ciara Mary-Alice Thompsonbs (CMATbs) second album Crazymad, For Me is an album about moving on after a failed relationship. However, what could be an angry bitter album comes off as a celebratory discovery of self, fusing country, rock, folk and pop flavored with CMATbs unique vocals and confessional songwriting. Definitely an artist to watch. https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lnDauoarNEXh8KblTjWQAOBAnJyj1finc The next few of my favorite albums of the year are all on the quieter side. Todaybs pick is the first solo album from Vince Clarke, founding member of Depeche Mode, and half of both Yazoo and Erasure. Known for his electronic synth pop, this album is surprisingly sedate and atmospheric, more on the ambient side with some songs like bThe Lamentations of Jeremiahb almost sounding classical with the rich strings. Overall a gorgeous moody album. https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_muLua0EgJBSkmFwB8GI6XfbdEd_Xhjbro Kate Fennerbs Dead Reckoning is exactly that-a reckoning with death. Having lost her parents, and several friends and bandmates to early deaths from cancer over the course of a year, Kate turned to song and lyrics to help her make sense of it all. The result is a somber but still uplifting look at loss and grief, and meditations on how to better be there for someone making the transition. https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nNsPNE3bH3bzyxpjD0NwFx0n_lSPmG4lw Mari Boine and Bugge Wesseltoftbs Amame is another quieter album with Maribs distinctive, mostly whispered Sami joik vocals and Norwegian and English lyrics alongside Buggebs jazz piano stylings. https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lO3SPZrrCIvyejbtPyTnjnMSxhqBZQQRQ One of the funnest and most unique albums of the past year was Lady Psychiatrist's Boothbs Four Research Porpoises Only, a mix of spoken word, jingles (Soap, Swivelmatic Actuator) and some really great songs with great harmonies like Hell in Michelle, Joelle (an original-not the Dolly Parton song) and Cold Dead Body. The album probes the lives of four women (Katrina, Heather, Linda and Penelope) and their various psychological conditions and the way society has historically marginalized strong women. It harkens back to storytelling albums like Amanda Palmer and Jason Wembleybs bEvelyn, Evelynb album or the clever songwriting and vocal harmonies of the Four Bitchinb Babes albums. The spoken word sections by the psychologist Dr. Garth Flunkel remind me of how Poe used recordings from her late father on the excellent album Haunted. https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kgxXfGwSQ5kYJp-gaajRWLl6ge3qRE3k4 After winning and almost turning down being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Dolly Parton instead chose to embrace it, wrote a few originals that she performed at the induction ceremony, and then called on all her favorite rock singers and bands to do duets on her favorite songsbthe result being an impressive compilation of rock and roll over the past decades. Yet in all of this, she never loses herself. Not only is this a solid album, it also shows the power of embracing change even at 77 years old. https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l3jbBd1SJgUk24S5KLyy6KNYJ9gFrjOAE Lynn Miles is one of the most consistent Canadian singer-songwriters, having won a Juno and three Canadian Folk Music Awards. Shebs been releasing music consistently since her first major debut in 1991. Her latest release, TumbleWeedy World, is her most bluegrass album to date, and continues to highlight her songwriting on tracks like Johnny Without June, Sorry is Just not Good Enough, and All Bitter, Never Sweet. https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lJLagWOLI3fTwO60olc7fnanb6QzYxp4U What are some of your favorites and new discoveries? I miss ecto being my primary source of discovery of new music. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V16 #3553 ****************************