brent evans

Top 20 Albums of 2024 – Part 1

Quickly – the just misses – here are 6 of them:

The Black Crowes, Billie Eilish, Brittany Howard, Friday Pilots Club, Judah & The Lion, and Linkin Park (clip)

20) Green Day – Saviors

I forgot how good this album was.  (clip) Some people ripped it because it sounded like a Green Day album.  BUT – that’s what I wanted.  I wanted a Green Day album. (clip)

19) Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department

At #19, I’ve got this one on vinyl.  Double Disc Album purchased on Record Store Day 2024. (Post Malone clip)  It’s a good album.  What made it even better for me was waiting in line with my little girl and seeing her excitement with this purchase.  Besides the Post Malone song, I also enjoyed the song “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” (clip)

18) The Black Keys – Ohio Players

I’m a huge fan of Beck and he was a major player with the making of this album (clip) Recently, The Black Keys came out with an extended version of the album with 4 extra tracks.  By the way, Ohio Players is the band’s 12th overall.  My favorite song off the album that I know I played the junk out of on New Music Friday was “Beautiful People.” (clip)

17) MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks

I was so late to the party on this one.  (Wristwatch)  Wilco meets Beck with a definite Sad Dad Rock feel to it.  The quirky lyrics are splendid.  Feeling Christmasy – Don’t listen to “Rudolph”

16) Jake Bugg – A Modern Day Distraction

Unfortunately, I haven’t found this on too many countdowns. (clip)  “Zombieland” has gotten a ton of listens, but that’s not my favorite. “I Wrote the Book” / “All Kinds of People” /

15) Sia – Reasonable Woman

This is one that I forgot how good it was until I went back and listened again (clip) The songs feel like anthems – I find myself wanting to sing along loud and proud, but they aren’t necessarily dude songs. (Immortal Queen clip)

I’ve always said Beck and Sia – I wish they would testimonials for me.

14) AWOLNATION – The Phantom Five

5th Studio Album arrived at the very end of Summer. (“Jump Sit Stand March”) Emily Armstrong appearing on that song.  “Panoramic View” was probably the big hit off this album, but that’s not the one that I played over and over again on my way to the gym in the morning – “I Am Happy” (clip)

13) Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet

We just talked about AWOLNATION’s 5th Studio Album, but Sabrina Carpenter has her 6th (clip) Short n’ Sweet is the album and it had what many consider the song of the summer (“Espresso”)  I love coffee, but I didn’t see too much coffee.  Let’s see another clip (another Espresso)  No java bean seen.

12) Shaboozey – Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going

Ahhh – this album includes my song for the summer which is why it’s kicked up a notch on this countdown. (clip) I like the one from Miley;s younger sister – Noah Cyrus.  But the other fun song that I enjoyed was the song “Drink Don’t Need No Mix” (clip)

11) Orville Peck – Stampede

This is a fun album from interesting guy.  (clip)  Wikipedia states – Orville Peck, is a South African country musician based in the United States and Canada. He is well-known for wearing a mask and not showing his face publicly. (clip)  The song that I enjoyed the most is the one that Beck in on – “Death Valley High” (clip)

Did I just end with back to back country albums?  There’s another one in my top 10.

“Quote of the Day” / Tuesday 12-10-24

Borrowing words from someone else in an attempt to spread happiness everywhere or at the very least – a reasonable range. Hey – go click that video!

(White Stripes cut)

I talk about Jack White a lot because I am a huge fan. But – the White Stripes would NOT be The White Stripes without Meg White

(another White Stripes cut)

AND – Happy Birthday, Meg – she turns 50 today!

Quote of the Day is via a fan of the White Stripes too – who always had them on his show

(Conan clip)

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.” – Conan O’Brien

missed music Monday / Monday 12-09-24

(Missed Music Monday opener)

1) The storytelling David Kushner delivered a haunting Christmas song called “Empty Bench” / It makes you feel the struggle of Longing and Loss – it’s not a pick me up like Jingle Bells, but still very good (clip)

2) A very appreciative Henrik puts forth more South Jersey music with his song – “Be Alive”

3) Early next year, British rocker Sam Fender will release his new album called: People Watching – that’s always fun to do. It’s when you point, it’s bad. Fender just released a six-minute song from the album – “Wild Long Lie”

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Tune in tomorrow for: Quote of the Day!

new music friday / Friday 12-06-24

My Spotify Song of the Year “Golden Boy” by Bryce Fox / When he comes to Philly’s TLA next April with AWOLNATION, I’m going to flash him the screenshot.

(Bryce Fox “Golden Boy”)

(New Music Friday)

2024 on its last leg – How do you know? All these countdowns or best of’s – I feel like I need to do one. So, I will – not today. Next week – I’ll put out my 20 to 11 albums for 2024 and then the following week, my top 10 albums for 2024. Everybody likes a countdown

(Countdown clip)

New Music Friday:

I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about for today’s New Music Friday. Click here for that!

• 1st – let’s say it together – Rosier. Now, switch the R to an H. Hozier. (“Take Me to Church”) Last year in August, Hozier released his album: Unreal Unearth, but then this past August, he released an extended version called: Unreal Unearth: Unaired (“Too Sweet”) “Too Sweet” was included on that recent one. Today, he released onto triple LP vinyl: Unreal Unearth Unending and it includes a previously unreleased track called “Hymn to Virgil” (clip)

• Back on November 1st, I talked about this album dropping because of the song that had gotten stuck in my head – “Crocodile Tears” (clip) Today, we have that entire album called Vicious Creature from Lauren Mayberry (Chuvrches “Here With Me” clip) She’s also the lead singer of the band: Chvrches. On the band’s Australian tour she hit some tough times with the band that made her think of doing this solo thing – what helped her through it (Taylor Swift’s Cruel Summer.”) Me too girl. What? Too much sharing? Anyway – I’ve listened to the album – definitely more of a pop sound. I enjoyed the delicately soft song of “Oh, Mother”, but another song which has a good upbeat sound to it is “Punch Drunk” (clip)

• Back in June within Spotify, I liked a 4-pack of this band’s songs (“What’s My Name”) Band’s name is Noshows. In an interview, lead singer – Max Satow (Say-toe) described the band’s sound as being Indie-Hop. (“Portrait”) Noshows isn’t just putting out good music , they’re also helping people navigate anxiety through music and pop-up events – the community is called: Magnify the Mind. I’ll provide a link (clip) That song is called “Decisions” and it willl be found on the new EP called Tightrope which drops next year – February 21st to be exact. Check out that band – Noshows //

• Several quick hits of new music: Dua Lipa just released: Dua Lipa Live From The Royal Albert Hall. The new live album features a reimagined version of her recently released album – Radical Optimism performed in its entirety front-to-back, along the 53-piece Heritage Orchestra, a 14-strong choir and her 7-piece band. // Sabrina Carpenter’s song “Taste” was just redone by a band that I’ve been enjoying a lot lately – Daisy Grenade. I was so hoping that it was “Taste It” from INXS (clip) I can’t be the only one? That’s a good song. // Advent calendars are being opened up daily all across the land and the Santa day is definitely getting closer, so here’s a new holiday song from Mat Kearney called “Christmas Chevrolet” (clip)

Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pigeons & Planes, Pitchfork, Louder, Spill Magazine, Dan Deluca of the Philly Inquirer & I know there’s more.

Be sure to check out the playlist on Spotify. As I mentioned in the beginning, it’s a playlist of songs that I’ve talked about and thought about: so, you’ll see some new music there from Maggie Rogers, Fuller, Andrew Bird, and anything that I really messed up and missed – well, that’s why I’ll be doing Missed Music Monday on Monday. 

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“The only truth is music . . . . music blends with the heartbeat universe and we forget the brain beat.” – by Jack Kerouac (Care o ack) – novelist and poet

“Quote of the Day” / Thursday 12-05-24

Borrowing words from someone else in an attempt to spread happiness everywhere

(“The Statue Got Me High” – TMBG)

They Might Be Giants – one of my favorites from my High School and College Years.

(“Birdhouse in Your Soul” clip)

I could play clips of them all day.

(MM Theme)

And yes – they also did the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Theme Song

My kids loved it! Today is Walt Disney’s birthday – he’d be a fan of them, too.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney

morning babble / Monday 12-02-24

(Missed Music Monday opener)

Jon Batiste has been everywhere. Served as the house band on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (clip) Composed music & won Grammys for his work on the Pixar film – Soul (clip) and now he reinterprets the Beethoven classics on his new album ‘Beethoven Blues’ (clip)

Oh, and he’s going to sing the National Anthem for this upcoming Super Bowl. Busy man – go listen to any of his stuff.

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Tune in tomorrow for: Quote of the Day!

morning babble / Friday 11-29-24

(“Do They Know It’s Christmas?”)

“Thank God it’s them. Instead of you.” Is that really the holiday spirit?

(“Do They Know It’s Christmas?”)

(New Music Friday)

Happy Turkey Day Weekend! I think that’s what makes Thanksgiving an easy favorite for a lot of people – it has a built in long weekend that follows. For most people. I realize there’s doctors, nurses, cash register people. Thank you. (clip) And the transition continues towards Christmas – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was recorded on three separate occasions, over three separate generations. The OG is from 1984. Today, producer Trevor Horn blended all the voices of those 3 separate generations into one and called it “Band Aid – 2024 Ultimate Mix” (clip)

(Countdown)

New Music Friday:

I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that!

• 1st up – Kesha (“Timber” ) That’s old Kesha who has her own record label now creatively titled – Kesha Recods. The first release was experienced this past summer called “JOYRIDE” (clip) I’m going to show my age, because whenever I hear of a song called “Joyride”, my mind travels back to 1991 and I think about Roxette (clip) Sorry – back to Kesha. The 2nd release off of her own label is now out for us all to embrace – “Delusional” (clip)

• The Juice WRLD team just released the late rapper’s third posthumous album and apparently the final one called: The Party Never Ends. Here’s the Spotify pushed song – “Misfit” (clip) 18 songs in total with appearances from Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Fall Out Boy, and Offset (clip) That’s Offset sounding like something that he would have done for a Migos album. Also, Juice WRLD has made his way into Fortnite again. (clip)

• Back in June, Canadian man – Jesse Roper released the song “Georgia Train” (clip) Then to follow that up in September, he came out with “True Lovin’ Ain’t Easy.” (clip) FYI – he’s a fun follow on Instagram. The other day he wrote – “I’ve got a couple more tunes to toss into the pool before I put an album out there.” AKA – gotta wait until 2025. He continues: “Here’s another one! It’s about confronting problems in my path and being scared to solve them.” Give Jesse Roper a follow and listen to his latest called “Roll This Stone” (clip)

• Several quick hits of new music: Via Instagram, Lana Del Rey has announced a new album called The Right Person Will Stay. Full album drop on May 21st. At this very moment – nothing yet, but be on the lookout for the first single called “Henry” // The late Martin Phillipps turned early unrecorded Chills songs into a new album. The double album will arrive next year on February 28th. Today we get “If This World Was Made For Me” // Emmaline makes us all want to put on our santa hat and play the big jolly fella (clip) ‘Zat You, Santa Claus – originally performed by the great Louis Armstrong, but now, there’s Emmaline (clip)

Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pigeons & Planes, Pitchfork, Louder, Spill Magazine, Dan Deluca of the Philly Inquirer & I know there’s more.

Be sure to check out the playlist on Spotify. As I mentioned in the beginning, it’s a playlist of songs that I’ve talked about and thought about: also, anything that I really messed up and missed – well, that’s why I’ll be doing Missed Music Monday on Monday. 

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“My heroes are the ones who survived doing it wrong, who made mistakes, but recovered from them.” – by Bono

morning babble / Thursday 11-28-24

Borrowing words from someone else in an attempt to spread happiness everywhere or at the very least – a reasonable range. Hey – go click that video!

(Sandler Thanksgiving Song)

Happy Turkey Day! (gobble, gobble card)

Also, Happy Friday Eve! (card)

Enjoy your day of food gluttony / As I state earlier in the month – even Woodstock

(Woodstock cut)

That’s a bird, Woody. Think Snoopy calls him Woody?

Tell you who NOT to be like – Peppermint Patty

(clip)

So negative there. Be thankful for what you have.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“What if today, we were just grateful for everything?” – Charlie Brown

morning babble / Monday 11-25-24

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

Tune in tomorrow for: Quote of the Day!

morning babble / Friday 11-22-24

(“King Kunta” Song)

At this musical time of year – the end – when everything “new” appears to be live, greatest hits, reissue, or Christmas . . . thankfully, we have Kendrick Lamar.

(“King Kunta” Song)

(Morning Babble Intro)

Happy Weekend! Today is a day where you’re getting the new music before the new music (Friday clip) I had everything written and ready to go. Then, Kendrick Lamar dropped a 12 song project titled: GNX. So what did I do? Jumped in my car with no where to go and drove around listening to it. (clip) It’s really good. I’m still trying to get a feel for it but as with any Kendrick album or just a song – there are many layers to it (“Not Like Us” clip) Just days ago, there were rumors of Miss Taylor Swift being on this album (“Bad Blood”) but she’s not. One of her best buds though – Jack Antonoff of the Bleachers has a producer line credit for every track except for the “Peekaboo” song (clip) So, Taylor Swift rumors were wrong, but you do get SZA on a couple of the tracks like this one – “Gloria” (clip) After listening a couple rounds to the album, track 2 jumped out to me – called “Squabble Up” (clip) By the way, on track #1, Kendrick does address the feud with Drake as well as the disappointment that Lil Wayne expressed at not receiving Super Bowl Halftime honors (clip). That’s going to be an interesting time in New Orleans for that Super Bowl Halftime show from yes . . . Kendrick Lamar

(Countdown Video)

New Music Friday:

Again the new Kendrick Lamar album is called GNX – I think I only added the 4 that I talked about to this list.

I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that!

• This is the album that I was initially the most excited to hear. (“Mahashmashana” clip) Title track there. I wasn’t too excited about saying the album’s name though: Mahashmashana – that’s a mouthful (clip) I actually heard this album last month during a Father John Misty Spotify Listening Party. It was great! Josh Tillman aka Father John Misty DJ’d the entire new album (clip) That song there is the one being pushed on Spotify called “Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose.” Now this album has over 50 minutes of new music, but only has 8 songs – they’re long. Don’t worry – they’ll edit some down for the radio airwaves. (clip) Just a clip there of an 8 minute song called “I Guess Time Makes Fools of Us All”. It was actually the 1st release for this album – which is rumored to be the final one as “Father John Misty”. Just reporting on what I hear whispers of. (clip) By far, that’s my favorite song so far has got to be “She Cleans Up” which he himself made fun of how there was a Black Keys vibe to it (clip)

• In November 20-19, Michael Kiwanuka (key – wa – new-ka) released his third album titled Kiwanuka (clip) The end of 2019 felt like the edge of the world. Decade coming to an end, Pandemic right around the corner. That album feels like ages ago. Today, we have his 4th album: Small Changes (“Small Changes” clip) Title track there. But the first song released off this album was back in July called “Floating Parade.” (clip) I was reading a review and thoroughly enjoyed this explanation of the album- “it replenishes your being like the aroma of a freshly boiled pot of coffee on a Sunday morning.” via Arun Starkey of Far Out Magazine. All in on listening to that Sunday morning and everyday with some fresh java. Here’s the newest song being pushed – “One and Only” (clip)

• Several quick hits of new music: A release date has been announced for Mac Miller’s unreleased album called Balloonerism – bring on 2025. Album drops on January 17th – the same date that his Circles album was released // I held up this album last week talking about switching lead singers – this is The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis – it was the last album that featured Peter Gabriel on lead vocals. Well, it turned 50 and there’s a The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition coming out next year on March 28th // Wicked – part 1 – is in theatres now. Wicked – part 2 – next year at this time. We do get a soundtrack of course. Lots of Arianna Grande // After being away from the music for over a decade, Clay Aiken has his first studio project called: Christmas Bells Are Ringing. Bunch of classics, the Paul McCartney song “Wonderful Christmastime”, a rendition of “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. I’m going with my favorite Christmas song and see what he does with it (clip)

Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pigeons & Planes, Pitchfork, Louder, Spill Magazine, Dan Deluca of the Philly Inquirer & I know there’s more.

Be sure to check out the playlist on Spotify. As I mentioned in the beginning, it’s a playlist of songs that I’ve talked about and thought about: so, you’ll see some new music there from Lil Nas X, Black Pumas – new live album (clip) Wilco, and anything that I really messed up and missed – well, that’s why I’ll be doing Missed Music Monday on Monday. 

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“The message I’m sending to myself – I can’t change the world until I change myself first.” – by Kendrick Lamar