I don’t have much to say about music from 2014 yet beyond “Here are some albums I’ve listened to a couple times that are definitely good”. I’ve been short on music-listening time this year: there’s been my mom’s cancer and my revival of my teenage fascination with the TV show Doctor Who, plus various temporary issues. That’s why I’m still far from done with my Best-of-2013 review countdown, even. But in case you’re curious, here are some […]
Artist: Manning
Album: the Root, the Leaf, and the Bone
Manning, the band led by songwriter/ singer/ many-instrumentalist Guy Manning, play long, evolving, mostly very pretty songs notable for (1) Guy Manning’s Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull)-like voice and melodies and (2) lots of opportunities for different instruments (flute, clarinet, sax, piano, rock organ, violin) to get little show-off moments. The Root, the Leaf, and the Bone is only the second of their albums I’ve heard, meaning I […]
Artist: Bye Bye Blackbirds
Album: We Need the Rain
If I’d run a personal poll of my music-geek friends to name the best album of 2013, I think the winner would have been We Need the Rain, an old-fashionedly tuneful guitar-pop album by the Bye Bye Blackbirds. This comes with a caveat: a large share of my voters would have been personal friends of Blackbirds singer/songwriter Bradley Skaught (with whom I’m a friendly online acquaintance). But it […]