First an album I already own/know:
Purgatory / Paradise (2013) by Throwing Muses
This a bit of an ambitious project: 32 tracks of which many are double down tracks (with a version 1 and 2) and many being filler. There's only one track I really like, Slippershell , and many of the tracks is what you can generally expect from a TM album without too much frills. So in short: this could have been a much better album if it would have been shorter but still one for my year chart but descending from the 17th to the 46th rank.
And an album from my wishlist:
Peace On Venus (2013) by Bardo Pond
And this is the opposite: only 5 tracks but maybe also a bit too long because the individual tracks are very long and winding with their typical droning sound. And again not an album with positive outliers but definitely a typical album for the band and entering my year chart at the 47th rank (ie just behind the TM album).
First an album I already own/know:
Crossing Dragon Bridge (2008) by Steve Wynn
Allmusic calls this "Wynn's masterpiece". I'm a fan and I don't think so: his earlier work is so much better. Not that this is a bad album: it simply doesn't contain the ingenious songwriting and delivery I know from his older albums. It still climbs from the 59th to the 47th rank but this is still rather mediocre for a Steve Wynn album.
I've been a fan of Steve's since the early 80's and I'd agree with what you have said. Not a masterpiece by any stretch. Decent though
If I had to chose a SW studio album, discounting Dream Syndicate or Miracle Three I'd go for either
Just one more thing about 2013 relating to Death Of Samantha with this final album of theirs:
If Memory Serves Us Well (2013) by Death Of Samantha
This is a special album. They (of course I mean Johan Petkovic and Dough Gillard) released their last album in 1989 after which they both had a filled career in other bands but did do some reunion performances. They decided to do one more live show in 2011 and for that they had a live rehearsal in a studio in Cleveland which finally resulted in this compilation album released in 2013. So it's not the actual live show which was recorded but these "live" show without an audience. It contains about the whole legacy in 18 tracks of this great band and I really like the versions here and more than the original versions on the original albums which I had to get from Youtube anyway because they are not available on Apple Music. Both Petkovic' voice and Gillard's guitar really shine here and the sound quality is better and above all: this album just doesn't contain one bad song and should be heard more widely. BtW the version of Blood Creek here is fantastic.
So I don't do this often (ex. Substance by New Order is another example) but I decided to regard this album as thé album of Death Of Samantha and to discard the individual albums from my year charts. Yes: it's that good and gives that good a view of their entire career. This album enters at the 8th rank on my year chart (and I do think I should rank it higher in the future).
First an album I already own/know:
By Absence Of The Sun (2014) by Triggerfinger
A Belgian band which sounds a bit like QOTSA. It's not a bad band and not a bad album but I wouldn't recommend it as the Belgian band or the Belgian album to listen to. It moves up my year chart from the 70th to the 58th rank.
And an album from my wishlist:
Parade On (2014) by Doug Gillard
Another solo album by Doug Gillard and for once not completely satisfying: especially the middle section is rather dull, a bit atypical for the man. But still an overall good album which enters my year chart at the 35th rank.
First and album (EP) I already know/own:
Saint Cecilia (2015) by Foo Fighters
The title track and The Neverending Sigh belong to the best work of Foo Fighters and Savior Breath is just an uppercut of a song. So overall a very good and too short EP/album which moves up from the 21st to the 3rd rank of the year.
And an album from my wishlist:
Lost Cities (2015) by Ed Kuepper
Especially via his work with The Saints and The Ants, Ed Kuepper is one of my musical heroes but his solo albums are fairly uneven and so is this one. Overall not bad but not a masterpiece either and it enters my year chart at the 65th rank.
First an album I already own/know:
The Getaway (2016) by Red Hot Chili Peppers
One of the albums of the in my opinion best period of band also featuring a few good singles like Dark Necessities. A very decent album which moves up from the 42nd to the 38th rank.
And not one but two albums connected to Doug Gillard from my wishlist:
You Know Who You Are (2016) by Nada Surf
John Petkovic joined Nada Surf in 2010 and this the second of their albums where he played the guitar and did a very good job at it. The melodic qualities of Nada Surf coupled with the guitar playing of Gillard makes this just a fine powerpop album to listen to in the best tradition of Teenage Fanclub. Gold Sounds is the best track and the album enters my year chart at the 14th rank.
Starting Point Of The Royal Cyclopean (2016) by ESP Ohio
By this time Doug Gillard became a fixed member of GBV but not before he did a more private collaboration with Robert Pollard on again one of the many side projects of Pollard. In this form Pollard shows a bit more of the prog side of his music with slightly longer (although none is longer than 5 minutes and there are 16 tracks on a not too long album) and more ambitious songs and if they are sometimes somewhat weaker they are saved by the good guitar parts of Doug Gillard. Still a good album which enters at the 27th rank.
First an album I already own/know:
Goths (2017) by The Mountain Goats
This album is a bit too long and maybe even a bit boring but it has some nice textures and the first two tracks jump out in a positive way. So after doubting a bit I decided to keep this album in my year chart and it even moves up from the 101st rank (so in fact not in the top 100) to 95.
And an album from my wishlist:
Sing The Night In Sorrow (2017) by Sweet Apple
And there seems to be no end of the productivity of my two main characters of this round. Sweet Apple is mainly a collaboration of John Petkovic, J Mascis (mainly on drums but luckily also sometimes on guitar) and Dave Sweetapple (who died in 2024) but on this album they collaborate with lots of other people: Mark Lanegan, Robert Pollard, Rachel Haden and even also old friend Doug Gillard who also delivers some guitar parts. There's a few songs without a lot of appeal but She Wants To Run and the sprawling Candles In The Sun are real highlights. And the album lands at the 44th rank of 2017.
First an album I already own/know:
Phantastic Ferniture (2018) by Phantastic Ferniture
A band centered around the Australian singer songwriter Julia Jacklin and a fairly good album with energetic tracks. It moves up from the 91st to the 69th rank.
And an album from my wishlist:
Die Unendlichkeit (2018) by Tocotronic
And another album from this great German band and another good album with lots of variety and good songs. And you know what: the extended version on Apple Music contains a fairly mellow but excellent cover version of Hüsker Dü's Flexible Flyer called Schittenflug. The album enters my year chart at the 76th rank.
First an album I already own/know:
Rose City Band (2019) by Rose City Band
A bit, just a bit of a softer version of Wooden Shjips by Ripley Johnson of Wooden Ships. But that doesn't mean this album isn't all about jams. The songs never go in overdrive but they are all too mesmerizing and the best example of that is the fantastic long Fear Song. So great album which moves up from the 53rd to the 26th rank.
And an album from my wishlist:
Akron, Ohio (2019) by Sad Planets
A collaboration of Patrick Carney from the Black Keys and John Petkovic. There's certainly very weak spots to be found in this album like City Ghosts or Long Goodbye but overall it is pretty good. It enters my year chart at the 87th rank.
First an album I already own/know:
Never Not Together (2020) by Nada Surf
And why not throwing in another Nada Surf album of which Doug Gillard was now a fixed member and it is clear that Gillard adds a bit of a rough guitar edge to the generally fairly mellow but very melodic Nada Surf sound; And this album contains many positive outliers : Live Learn and Forget, Looking For You, Crowded Star, Mathilda and Ride In The Unknown. Which means that this great album remains steady at the 2nd rank of the year.
And an album from my wishlist:
The Black Hole Understands (2020) by Cloud Nothings
The lockdown album of the band and that way also not as hard edged as their other albums but what it loses in roughness, it gains in melodic quality and that's not a bad thing for a band I really like and only the instrumental Tall Gray Structure suffers a bit from a lack of depth. The album enters at the 42nd rank of the year.
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