My Top 18 Albums of 2018 #8

8. Amy Rigby - The Old Guys

Witty, literate and full of attitude - still one of the best songwriters around, Amy never lets me down.

More here.

And here.



Next... Born to be a bloodsucker...

My Top Ten Trump Songs 2018

Lest we forget, there is a dangerous, deluded psychopath in charge of the most powerful country in the world. And on top of that, Donald Trump's still the President of the USA. But while very few songwriters are expressing their concerns about Putin through lyrics, many have been getting very angry about Donald J. Here's ten of the best from 2018...


10. Nine Inch Nails - Shit Mirror

Apparently this is Trent Reznor's response to the man he called "a vulgar, grotesque dope" and  “a complete fucking moron”. Trent is angry. But isn't he always?

9. Barbra Streisand - Don't Lie To Me

From Trent Reznor to Barbra Streisand. Let's face it, if you managed to piss off both Trent & Babs, you must be an evil "genius".

8. Alejandro Escovedo - Rio Navidad

Based on an experience Escovedo had in the 80s when he encountered a racist Texas ranger at a wedding; the character in this song is also based on an Arizona sheriff accused of violating the rights of Latinos as part of his tyrannical immigration policy... a man latterly pardoned by the 47th President of the USA.

7. Superchunk - What A Time To Be Alive

There's a crooked line that runs
Through every crease in this map
And you want to take us all the way back

To see the rot in no disguise
Oh what a time to be alive
The scum, the shame, the fucking lies
Oh what a time to be alive

Good to have Superchunk back.

6. Holiday Oscar - Bad Dudes

What kind of special relationship's this?

Hey, Theresa... there's a lot of bad dudes out there!

5. Frank Turner - Make America Great Again

Up until this year, a new Frank Turner release had been pretty much guaranteed a place in my year end countdown. His latest album felt like he was trying too hard to be all things for all listeners, and there were times when his trademark optimism verged on naivety. Make America Great Again is a good example of that. Frank's heart is in the right place, but...

4. The Decemberists - Severed

I'll let Colin Meloy explain this one himself...

"Well, it’s inspired a little bit by the guy who’s currently in the White House. I think it was written initially during the campaign, before the election, just sort of exploring that tone of voice that he was taking. The character in the song, the first-person character, is a demagogue, absolutely, so it was an exploration of, “What is demagoguery, and where does it come from?” as we were seeing this very public figure express these kind of insane and incredible sentiments in public. Of course, I think the song took on a different life once he was actually elected. But yeah, it’s sort of an exploration of the voice of a demagogue, and so hopefully people will find it reviling. I can only hope."

3. John Grant - Smug C***

Just in case you're easily offended, I used asterisks. Then again, if I were really worried about causing offence, I'd probably need to write this post about D***** T****.

All the girls think you're a stud
Even though your hands are covered in blood
And they're turned on by your cover-ups

The highest compliment is being feared
I bet that you don't even think that's weird
You don't care who your deeds corrupt

2. Will Hoge - Gilded Walls

Well another group of kids in a high school, dead
But you're still at your golf course teein' off at nine
People marchin' in the streets tryin' to find a little peace
You sit around spoutin' more bullshit online

Oh and I don't believe in the devil
But you might make me go and change my mind
You could see this whole damn world get leveled
And not even lose track of time
Inside your gilded walls that shine

And that's not the only track on this album to take aim at the bloated POTUS. But more on that soon...

1. Karine Polwart - I Burn, But I Am Not Consumed

As previously discussed on my United Kingdom of Song feature, Donald Trump's mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, comes from the Isle of Lewis. Edinburgh's Karine Polwart has much to say about that on this exceptional talky song from her latest album...

Oh son of Lewis, lonely boy,

hewn from granite, salt and sky

upon a foreign shore:

the ocean is a mirror gleam

in which you see yourself,

and nothing more.

Your mother was a wee girl once,

who played upon my rocky shore.

And you, you are broken boy,

and you want more and more and more.

You build a tower. You build a wall,

You live in fear that they might fall.

You who see nothing but your face

in the sheen of The Hudson River.

Karine Polwart - I Burn, But I Am Not Consumed

My Top 18 Albums of 2018 #9

9. The Decemberists - I'll Be Your Girl

Everything Is Awful and We All Die Young. For Once In My Life, could just something go right?

More here.



Next... there's a new sheriff in town, and it ain't Tony Soprano or Walter White.

My Top 18 Albums of 2018 #10

10. Jill Jackson - Are We There Yet?

Honest human stories... including a couple that reduced me to a blubbering wreck. Music to make you feel.

More here.



Next... the best record Morrissey didn't release this year.

Saturday Snapshots #63 - The Answers

Hey There! What Kind of Fool Am I? I almost forgot to post this week's Saturday Snapshots answers. To be fair, it has been a very stressful week. Ofsted never actually stepped into my classroom, but the constant anticipation of them doing so nearly killed me. That was Too Close For Comfort. Still, it's over now.

I think Chris deserves the crown this week for solving the ones nobody else could. Alyson was the Early Bird; it was good to have Lynchie back, CC & C were beaten to the punch.

Time to play The Candyman again and hand out these sweet goodies...


10. Bambi's mum has a special milkman. Spice approaching!

Ernie was the fastest milkman in the West.

Special K.

A female deer is a doe.

Lynchie claimed he only knew one Ernie K. Doe song. Surely you know this one too?

Ernie K. Doe - Here Come The Girls

9. A Black Widow gets lost in translation, singing je t'aime solo.

Scarlett Johansson is the Black Widow, and gets Lost In Translation.

Scarlet - Independent Love Song

8. Adam's lady gets in a fight with Mutton Batman.

Adam's lady was Eve.

A fight is a war.

Mutton Jeff + Bruce Wayne =

Jeff Wayne - Eve of the War

7. Drippy waterfalls.

The Cascades - Rhythm of the Rain

6. "Oh no, I wouldn't."

"Oh, yes..."

The young man has an admirer.

Oh yes, Yearwood.

Trisha Yearwood - She's In Love With The Boy

5. Doubly definite, Kerouac is defeated.

The definite article is The.

Kerouac inspired the Beat Generation.

Defeat is getting beaten.

The The - The Beat(en) Generation

4. Parents can still call the request line for romantic tunes.

The Mamas & The Papas - Dedicated To The One I Love

3. Going on a date with Dettol generates confusion. (That may be my favourite clue of the year.)

A date with Dettol would be a romance with chemicals.

"Generates" mixed up is teenagers.

"Do they have a song called Teenagers?" asked Rigid Digit, refusing (nobly) to resort to googling (it is a verb now).

Yes, they do... and it's a blinder.

My Chemical Romance - Teenagers 

2. Lots of blue and a few splashes of white for the time we preferred not to drive.

Blue and white are the colours of the ocean.

Ocean Colour Scene - The Day We Caught The Train

I don't care what you think about Ocean Colour Scene: that is a great tune.

1. Renato's lady is led astray by two pairs of jumpers.

Renee was with Renato.

Two pairs of jumpers would be Four Tops.

This song sends shivers down my spine...


If My Friends Could See Me Now, they'd realise next week will be our annual Seasonal Snapshots. I'll see you then, with bells on.