1) The War on Drugs, “Live Drugs” / Few bands have captivated me more over the past decade. Adam Granduciel’s genius lies in weaving together the heartland sound of Springsteen and Petty and Dylan with atmospheric washes. Granduciel’s perfectionism has given way, at least, by degrees to a real emotional expression. That coming together is deeply evident on the band’s new live record. You hear the craftsmanship in these songs, but Granduciel and Co. never sacrifice a bit of heart or showmanship at the well-polished altar of getting it “right.”
2) Gillian Welch, “Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 3” / The luminous singer-songwriter continues releasing once-unheard material, and all of it resonates with grit and grace. A number of the songs here—“City Girl,” “Make Me Down a Pallet On Your Floor,” etc.—are as good as anything in Welch’s catalog and blossom with simple surprises.
3) Lambchop, “TRIP” / One of American music’s unsung heroes, Kurt Wagner begins his latest record with a serious gamble: a 13-minute cover of Wilco’s anti-love song “Reservations.” But anyone who knows Wagner and Lambchop hears the connection right away. His work relies on bending classic songcraft into a stranger, ultimately more satisfying shape. Wagner does that by diving deep inside Jeff Tweedy’s song and delivering a dispatch from the inside out; and he does it on his own compositions, beautifully tuning our ears to the little things.
4) Corbin Reiff, “Total F*cking Godhead” / Reiff’s biography of the late, great Chris Cornell is a thoughtful, thorough work. Soundgarden/Audioslave diehards—and those with a more curious interest in Cornell—will find a wealth of details on how his greatest works were made, while gaining a few more pieces of the emotional puzzle that was this man.
5) Daniel Bowman Jr., “November, Blackford County, Indiana” for Amethyst Review” / It would do violence to my friend Daniel Bowman’s poem to pluck out a line and make it stand for the whole. Just trust me: This is the poem of my pandemic. I feel the presence and absence of God in these lines, both a summary and previously unaccessed language for what I’ve felt, and still feel, in these darker days. There's hope in remembering someone knows—and can name—the place you’re in. Bowman does that for me here, and I’m exceedingly grateful.