TVD’s The Best of 2015: New Releases, Part One

‘Tis the season to peruse a bevy of numbered rundowns as websites undergo deserved holiday breaks. As it was with previous TVD Best of lists, the releases below aren’t an all-encompassing pronouncement from an overstuffed armchair on high; instead they are merely a hierarchy of loosely paired favorites assembled and presented with cheer as the calendar swiftly runs out of days.

10. Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, Under the Savage Sky | As long as Barrence and crew keep throwing down hearty slabs of stomping post-Sonics garage R&B mania like this one and ‘13’s Dig Thy Savage Soul, I’ll keep putting them on my Year end Best lists. Having bupkis to do with originality, this stuff is totally wrapped up in inspiration and proper execution, particularly with concern for volume and distortion.

Therefore some will balk at its gnarled guitar, wailing sax, pounding rhythm, and raw throat usurping the inclusion of a more innovative or contemporary release. But on the other hand, the fact that Barrence’s last two records are his strongest is its own kind of startling reality. It all wraps up with a swell piece of songwriting in “Full Moon in the Daylight Sky,” lending further testimony that Under the Savage Sky is the latest in a far from ordinary creative rekindling.

9. Beauty Pill, Describes Things as They Are | Another comeback, though the circumstances here are quite different, relating to the health issues of group leader Chad Clark. Concisely depicted as experimentally inclined pop, this LP is a significant progression from Beauty Pill’s prior output for Dischord (Butterscotch is the new label); in large part through the sound of Clark’s voice, affinities do remain.

Describes Things as They Are is a multifaceted art-pop grower illuminating Clark’s control of studio-as-instrument alongside his good taste in cover material, specifically Arto Lindsay’s “The Prize” and Lungfish’s “Ann the Word.” But the original writing stacks up very nicely as the organic elements are well-balanced with the synthetic techniques throughout.

8. Nicole Willis & the Soul Investigators, Happiness in Every Style | Deriving from a tight live-instrument foundation, many will assuredly deem this soul/R&B outing a throwback. Willis is no anachronism however, having blossomed in the acid jazz environment of the ‘90s; before that she was in an early Deee-Lite lineup and additionally backed up Matt Johnson/The The on tour.

The Investigators approach the backing with the same sort of flair as the Dap-Kings; as said, it’s tight but not sweaty as the band expertly finds and maintains grooves. Branching out from the previous entries in their combined discography, Happiness in Every Style offers a decided ‘70s aura; a little Philly, aspects of Curtis, and an infusion of Hi Records as Willis mildly recalls Ann Peebles at times but with more of a soul priestess vibe. Really, the only thing missing are the missteps; even in the flute department, this baby goes down sans snags and just keeps on giving.

7. Circuit des Yeux, In Plain Speech | Windy City denizen Haley Fohr has come a long way since the days of the lo-fi racket offered by Cro Magnon, her duo with Katie Leming. Fohr’s solo vehicle Circuit des Yeux spans back to that period, but recently she’s kept busy by contributing to Mind Over Mirrors, the project of her Chicago cohort Jaime Fennelly.

Mind Over Mirrors’ The Voice Calling benefited from Fohr’s lyrics and distinctive vocalizing, but the primary exhibit in her impressive 2015 is the often riveting In Plain Speech; even as the sonic landscape gets widened the whole is unmistakably hers, in no small part due to intense, husky, at times operatic singing that can plumb the darkness while coming up with “Fantasize the Scene,” a gorgeous slab of edgy art-pop suggesting (not copying) Nico. Again, she’s came a long way but just as clearly there’s much progress in store.

6. Yo La Tengo, Stuff Like That There | Yes, a (mostly) covers album; when it’s done this well, the endeavor deserves special citation, as Yo La Tengo (here augmented by former member Dave Schramm) never wield their encyclopedic love of rock and pop both old (Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”) and newish (The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love”) like a bludgeon. Instead, they deliver an aura akin to a friendly handshake and/or warm embrace.

Obviously this set bookends well (exquisitely, even) with their earlier covers affair Fakebook; as on that alb they’ve chosen to include a few re-recordings of their own tunes and even slide a couple new numbers into the mix. Sweet are the nods to their ’80’s u-ground peers Great Plains and Antietam, though maybe the loveliest aspect is the R&B takes of Darlene McCrea, The Parliaments, and Sonny Blount. Theorizing is surely cool, but music is ultimately for listening; in this regard, Stuff Like That There is splendid.

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