Mercury Falls presents:
Mercury Falls’ Best of 2018 Pt. 3 (but, not really)
I (LJ) am covering Mercury Falls from 9-11 p.m. this evening. For the past two weeks, Melissa has been doing a recap of 2018. I figured I would follow suit with my take on the past year.
Some pen jottings on 2018:
No mystery here: my favorite and most listened to album of 2018 is Low’s Double Negative. My favorite song from the album has changed multiple times.
Something I never thought I would say: Mariah Carey made a great album this year. But it’s true. I apologize to anyone that might have heard me sing along to “GTFO” in my car. “Scuse-a-me, let me call you a valet.” Love it.
Paul Simon performing “Can’t Run But” on Saturday Night Live is my favorite musical moment on T.V. this year.
Regarding the feud between Cardi B. and Nicki Minaj: They both made great albums this year and there is room in my world for both of them.
One my most listened to songs of 2018 was recorded in 1974. It’s the alternate version of Bob Dylan’s “You’re a Big Girl Now” released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks. I feel like I’ve cracked the code for this song: if we scrape away all the metaphors, we are left a direct and devastating message to his wife:
“I can change, I swear. See what you can do. I can make it through. You can make it, too. […] I know where I can find you: in somebody’s room. It’s a price I have to pay. […] I’m going out of my mind, with a pain that stops and starts like a corkscrew to my heart. Ever since we’ve been apart. […]”
Cat Power deserves whatever award you give to an artist for making an album so good that you are forced to pay attention to it. I wasn’t all that interested in her latest, Wanderer, but I ended up saying, “Damn…that is REALLY good.”
What do we say about Kanye West’s 2018? I dunno either. Musically, he had a great year.
I have a weird fascination with The Ting Tings. They seem like people that are too smart to get out of their own way and, once again in 2018, they made an interesting album that misses the mark. But I’m rooting for them.
I didn’t hate Drake’s Scorpion. Yeah, it’s too long. But, there are some great moments within it’s 25 songs.
If I had to pick a top five albums of 2018, it might be something like:
- Low – Double Negative
- Black Moth Super Rainbow – Panic Blooms
- Autechre – NTS Sessions
- Body/Head – The Switch
- Kids See Ghosts
But there were so many great albums this year including: YOB, Oneohtrix Point Never, Ohmme, PlanningToRock, Elvis Costello, Neneh Cherry, Young Fathers, Tanukichan, Dead Can Dance and Mitski.
Some of my favorite songs from the year that aren’t mentioned anywhere above:
- “Missing U” – Robyn
- “Jupiter 4” – Sharon Van Etten
- “Modafinil Blues” – Matthew Dear
- “Kong” – Neneh Cherry
- “Blue Girl” – Chromatics
I did a couple of back catalog deep dives this year and I now know more about Phil Collins’ solo albums than is healthy the admit. I also dug into Crosby, Stills and Nash, which is a tangled web if ever there was one.
For 2019, I’m looking forward to Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell.
Show Archive
Play show / Add show to playlistPlaylist:
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Bob Dylan, “You're a Big Girl Now”
from More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 14 (Sampler)
Legacy Recordings - 2018
El Jay Mercury Falls January 16th, 2019
Posted In: Music Shows