Nancy’s annual gutting of my
originally intended mixes continues, and once again she has poached her way to another
fantastic collection of songs.
Let the “Nancy’s mix is
always the best” chorus begin!
Links to the albums and other editions of Nancy's favorites can be found at bottom of this post.
1. Wherever You Wanna Go - Patty Griffin: I
love Patty. Nancy loves Patty. Whenever Patty Griffin puts out a new release, a
year long-fight between Nancy and I ensues over who gets to use Patty’s best
songs. It’s a fight I have yet to win. This track, the opener to 2013’s spare American Kid (Solid Recommend), a
gorgeous, plainspoken eulogy to a fallen soldier (or possibly Patty’s father,
who was in hospice near the time the album was recorded), is the song we fought
over most.
2. Cover Me Up - Jason Isbelll: Though unflinching and often painful, the songs on Jason Isbell’s Southeastern (Strong Recommend) are an ultimately positive lot, focused on the redemptive power of honestly owning up to one’s problems. In a classic case of art mirroring life, Isbell himself was coming to terms with one of his own demons - alcoholism - and with much help from then girlfriend, now wife, violinist Amanda Shires, fought the battle to get sober throughout the recording of this record. Rumor is he and Shires locked the final tracks on Southeastern just hours before catching a plane for their honeymoon, and one has to hope this clear declaration of love for Amanda was the last thing they heard.
3. I Should Live In Salt - The National: Nancy’s favorite track…and the fifth and final selection in this collection…from 2013’s finest album, The National’s Trouble Will Find Me (Highest Recommend).
4. Sacrilege - Yeah Yeah Yeahs: As
stated earlier in the notes for Volume 2
- Groovy, the album Mosquito (Mild
Recommend) might have been disappointing, but not this track. A kick-ass
merging of edged-out punk and soaring gospel, it may be the best song the Yeah
Yeah Yeahs have ever recorded.
5. Falling - Haim: One
of the year’s best reviewed releases, Haim’s Days Are Gone (Solid Recommend) gave the earnest sounds of 70s west
coast rock a contemporary girl-group spin, and turned this trio of sisters from
a cover band family into 2013’s overnight success. The album is chock full of light,
bouncy, charmingly unhip numbers, but Nancy’s selection, Falling, gets my vote for catchiest of the bunch.
6. Swan Dive - Waxahatchee: Another
savvy poaching choice by Nance, Swan Dive
is one of the strongest ballads from an album full of potent ballads, Waxahatchee’s
Liz Phair-like sophomore full length, Cerulean
Salt (Solid Recommend).
7. Open - Rhye: Open is one of the two or
three most gorgeous tracks of the year, from an album, Woman (Solid Recommend) loaded with stellar mellow-smooth moments.
Nancy included another song from Woman,
The Fall (whose single release
predated the album’s), on her mix last year.
And for the uninitiated, there’s a clear, cynical marketing reason why the
band’s album artwork never shows the artists, and why their music videos hide
the band membersin deep shadows…those stirring Sade-like vocals you’re hearing are
coming from a man, co-producer and key songwriter Mike Milosh.
8. Primetime - Janelle Monae: A
far bigger star now than upon the release of 2010’s The ArchAndroid, Ms. Monae’s list of guest vocalists on 2013’s
steady but less spectacular The Electric Lady (Solid Recommend) includes
such industry luminaries as Prince, Erykah Badu, Solange, and Esperanza
Spalding. But it was this hot, romantic duet with rising-star neo-soul crooner
Miguel that most captured Nancy’s attention.
9. Only Love - Ben Howard: Nancy’s
always displayed a soft spot for well-done, uplifting singer-songwriter
efforts, and this winning song courtesy of one of last year’s Coachella
artists, Brit Ben Howard, fits that mold to a tee.
10. Gallup, NM - The Shouting Matches: Yet
another Justin Vernon side-project, this time with frequent collaborators Phil
Cook (Megafaun) and Brian Moen (Peter Cry Wolf), album Grown Ass Man’s (Very Mild Recommend) playful foray into mid-70s blues rock wasn’t intended as anything but a relaxing, throwaway trifle, and
that’s exactly how the album plays…with the exception of this one track. One of the strongest single song performances
I saw all weekend at Coachella 2013, I had Gallup,
NM slated for Volume 7- Coachella
Starters until Nancy eagerly snatched it up, a move I fully understand, as
the song perfectly captures the vibe of 461Ocean
Boulevard-era Eric Clapton at his mellow-rocker best.
11. Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys: After
opening their career with a couple of snarly, nimble-fingered punk-pop albums,
the Arctic Monkeys slowed things down and got almost Led Zeppelin heavy on
fourth release AM (Solid Recommend),
their best effort since their debut. Of the album’s many fine tracks, no song
had a bigger impact than the massive hit Nancy’s has included here.
12. Right Action - Franz Ferdinand: Franz
Ferdinand’s Right Thoughts Right Words
Right Action was a pure stylistic retrenching, the result of a band entering
its second decade and saying “Screw it, no more experimenting, we’re sticking
with what works!” Out of those efforts to recapture the sound and feel of their
2004 glory days, this super lively number works best. 
13. Come To My Party - Black Joe Lewis: Black
Joe Lewis and the Honeybears’ 2013 outing Electric
Slave (not recommended) wasn’t near the boogie-fest that was 2011’s
fantastic Scandalous, dropping a lot
of that album’s driving funk rhythms to produce a more straight ahead rock
album, but it still contained a couple of dynamite party-rock anthems, and
Nancy’s selected the best one here.
14. Workin' Woman Blues - Valerie June: Medusa-haired
Valerie June’s Pushin’ Against The Stone
(Mild Recommend) is one of 2013’s freshest sounding releases, ironic given that
with its earthy blend of country, folk, blues, and traditional Appalachian
music it is also one of the 2013’s most timeless releases. Yet another one of the many off beat artists
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach has taken under his wing in recent years
(alongside Niger bluesman Bombino, New Orleans’ giant Dr. John, and Hanni-El
Khatib), one listen to Workin’ Woman
Blues here is all it should take to justify Auerbach’s interest in this
unique artist who has been gutting it out as a small venue/street festival performer for over a decade.
15. Where Can I Go? - Laura Marling: From
the beginning of her recording career in 2008, British folk singer Laura
Marling has sounded mature beyond her years, but even so, the sense of adult
self-possession on the still just twenty-four Marling’s fourth release Once I Was An Eagle (Solid Recommend) is
striking - the closest another female recording artist has come to matching the
intuitive, confessional power of Joni Mitchell’s best work in decades. Stripped down to the barest of
instrumentation…more often than not just Marling’s deep voice and acoustic
guitar…its singular sound and best moments like Take The Night Off, I Was an
Eagle, Master Hunter, and Pray For Me are fantastic, but one has
to be in the mood for it, as it is also one of the most monochromatic albums
I’ve heard in quite some time, and over sixteen long songs can wear out its
welcome. Still, definitely a 2013 release worth celebrating, and its liveliest
track Where Can I Go is a big reason
why!16. Elephant - Jason Isbell: Nancy
has always had a great ear for songs that capture the tiny details and universal
truths of life’s most challenging moments, and this brilliant song from Southeastern…the gut-wrenching tale of
two barflies’ fight to live their lives as they used to while one struggles
through the final stages of terminal cancer…is
a classic example.17. That Kind Of Lonely - Patty Griffin: American Kid is Patty Griffin’s
most stripped-down effort in years. Rustic,
minimalist, and Gillian Welch caliber sad, it features three well-received duets
with Robert Plant (yes, that Robert Plant!), most notably Ohio, but the album is at its very best when Patty is on her own,
and nowhere on the record does she sound more on her own…or achingly alone…than
on this stunning ballad here.
18. It's Alright, It's OK - Primal Scream: Now
past its thirtieth year, Scotland’s Primal Scream has had one of the era’s most
mercurial recording careers, producing a discography full of spectacular,
daring highs (Screamadelica, Vanishing Point, XTRMNTR) and oh-so-dreary lows. And while they are getting on in
age, the band has been so consistently eclectic in the past that it still comes
as a bit of a shock that 2013’s More
Light (Mild Recommend) plays mostly as a Some Girls / All That You
Can’t Leave Behind-styled return to past glories. Pretty much all of the
vast stylistic ventures explored in previous albums are given a song or two
reworking here, but some of those past styles are well worth revisiting, as
with the album’s phenomenal gospel-tinged closer here, a track which would have
played perfectly on Screamdelica
twenty-three years ago.19. What An Experience - Janelle Monae: Neither
Nancy or I were that impressed with The
Electric Lady on first listen, but then we had a marvelous November evening
out with friends capped by an extraordinary Monae show at the Club Nokia, and
this song, the album’s sweet closer, stuck with us all. My hope is it’s those
warm memories that inspired Nancy to end with this song.Here are links to previous editions of Nancy's Favorites -
Nancy's Favorites 2012
Nancy's Favorites 2011
Nancy's Favorites 2010
Nancy's Favorites 2009
Nancy's Favorites 2008
Nancy's Favorites 2007
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