Some uneditied ramblings on the year in music I've listened to so far

It's halfway through the year, a good time to take stock of my favorite albums of the year so far. Unfortunately, the list of albums I'd still like hear far out numbers what I've heard so far. So it'll be two lists. First, a few quick impressions of my favorites, then what I'd like to hear.

My two favorites of the year so far are Shame, Shame by Dr. Dog and The Wild Hunt by The Tallest Man on Earth. Both feel like quick listens and are easy to enjoy to all the way through. Dr. Dog continue doing what I thought they perfected on their previous album, Fate, but apparently there was room for improvement. Having the two singers alternate each song is a nice touch. It keeps the sound fresh and almost gives it a mixtape feel. I perfer the snotty Ben Kweller-esque voice of Scott McMicken to the Beatles-era Paul McCartney scratchy yelping of Toby Leaman. And here comes the blasphemy part of this post: In my warped opinion Dr. Dog sound like the Beatles, but better and Tallest Man on Earth is like early Dylan but better. Not in terms of lyrics, but everywhere else. I'm glad I got that off my chest. Another one where I thought his (Tallest Man is just Kristian Matsson and a guitar) previous album, Shallow Grave was as good as it gets for frog throated (in a good way) singer songwriter. I was wrong, the new one is much catchier just sounds better. Both in terms of melodies and sound quality.

After that there are a handful of albums I enjoying skipping around the tracks, but not nearly as much as complete albums. There's Clem Snide's The Meat of Life, which packs a powerful punch without exactly rocking out. Lots of specifics about doomed relationships and the emotional toll shows.

Drive By Truckers' The Big To-Do is one that took a long time for me to get into. Their 2008 record, Brighter Than Creation's Dark is an all time favorite for me. Play that from track one on and you get the history of rock and roll, all genres, all tempos. It ebbs and it flows, it's got everything. The three signers compliment each other, all bringing their A game. The new one is mostly revels in that dirty classic rock sound and when bassist and sometimes singer Shonna Tucker pops up to lead a tune, it's not too long before I press skip. Last time around she provided some highlights and a perfect change of pace. So instead of going up and down and giving a full experience of what rock music can be, it's just one wallop to the head after another. Mostly. Now that I've given the album more of a chance I found some slower gems towards the end. But yeah, It's back to being Patterson Hood's show after feeling like there were three strong leads of last time around. And my appreciation for his songwriting grows with each listen. He takes rock and roll cliches of characters and doesn't necessarily flesh them out, but makes them real by plainly stating their motivations and stories with an attitude of sincerity and quick witted not given a fuck. Along with passionate classic rock riffs it a real person with a real story and a real insight by the end. Whether it's the alcohilic binging of "The Fourth Night of My Drinking," the blue collar shit on employee of "This Fucking Job," or the aging rock and roller hanging on a bit too long on "After The Scene Dies" the listener ends up with real affection for these good intentioned miscreants. And like I said earlier, it's rock and roll that wallops you over the head and gets you muddy, which can be very fun. Not many bands do that better that Drive By. I was just hoping they'd continue to excel in showing they had range beyond that.

One record that confused me was the new Band of Horses' Infinite Arms. I like a whole lot of songs on there but I think something went wrong with some of the production choices. I saw them live a few times performing some the new stuff and it got me very excited for this one. I'd like to give them a do over. Speed things up maybe. Make it rock more. Just do something different because I know these songs can sound less bland.

A feel good album I keep coming back to is Yukon Blonde's self titled debut. I'm a sucker for hippie influenced classic rock with lines like "I need rhythm, you need the groove, and I will make it to you." After a few months with this one in my listening rotation, I'm liking it a lot more than I did when I reviewed it. It goes better with summer weather.

Now it's time for list number 2: Albums I want. I'm just going to list the artist.
Titus Andronicus
The Hold Steady
The National
The New Pornographers
Broken Social Scene
The Besnard Lakes
Black Keys
Blitzen Trapper
Deer Tick
Delta Spirit
Gaslight Anthem

And two that I've gotten my hands on but I want to give another chance to after initially not making a strong impression: Josh Ritter and Morning Benders.

I can't believe I haven't even included the new Nas and Damian Marley and the new Reflection Eternal. I've really fallen off the hip-hop wagon this year.