1) Counting Crows, “Butter Miracle Suite One” / For better or worse, my heart belongs to Counting Crows. The band’s first set in seven years, a four-song EP with the promise of more to come, bears a cover image you shouldn’t judge. But the music is vintage Crows. The bend of the melody in “Elevator Boots,” the way Adam Duritz writes story songs like a Berkeley Springsteen, the band’s ability to fit together so well after (because of) all this time—it all soothes the soul.
2) Lowland Hum, “So Low” / The husband-and-wife duo of Lauren and Daniel Goans take on one of my favorite albums (Peter Gabriel’s “So”) track for track, and create a work of profound imagination and beauty. It would be too common, too cliche to say Lowland Hum makes these songs their own; they allow the songs to belong to everyone—or at least a greater portion of the listening public.
3) Fiddlehead, “Between the Richness” / This Boston band draws on its hardcore roots as it fashions a masterful work of melodic, pensive punk. These songs dig deep, cut deep and apply just enough solidarity to the wound.
4) Rosebud Ben-Oni, “If This is the Age We End Discovery” / The poet wrestles with physics, metaphysics, pop culture and more in this expansive yet intimately-focused collection. Ben-Oni references everything from Rick and Morty to Cake the band to Nine Inch Nails (or Johnny Cash, depending on who’s listening) and finds the extra dimension in all these inspirations.
5) Aaron J. Housholder, “Machine” for Sledgehammer / This flash piece from Aaron Housholder might be the best thing I’ve read all year. The phrase “single cone of light from a buzzing naked light bulb” (and its variations) rattled around in my head for a full 24 hours after reading it; and the way Housholder unfurls both the fantastical and deeply felt is just a powerful thing to behold. Worth reading, then reading again.