ROUTES & BRANCHES 

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

December 29, 2019

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT the 2010's?!!

We have just one more of these lists to send your way before we head into the first weeks of the new decade.  Appropriately, this one showcases my favorite records of the past ten years.  On the surface, it's an easier challenge than our recurring year-end lists.  I finished the initial run-through several weeks ago, and felt pretty good about the results.  As usual, doubts and whatabouts crept in, and I created a second list of things that might belong on that first one.  That addendum soon became longer than the initial list, and I crumbled like a discarded sheet of Christmas wrap.  What was I thinking?  How did I ever leave off CDs X Y or Z?!!  Is it better to include two projects by one artist, or to err on the side of diversity?  Anyhow, what we have here today is simply the stuff that I enjoyed more than a lot of the other stuff.

As with previous lists, I've pulled comments from my past posts when possible. The parenthetical part reads (Label, Month and Year of Initial Release).

30. Benjamin Booker, Benjamin Booker  (ATO, Aug 14)
I knew Booker was my man as soon as I launched into the first track of his debut and realized that I had no idea of the lyrics he was spitting. From New Orleans, the 24 year old cites Gun Club, T Rex and Blind Willie Johnson among his influences - my initial take planted him in an unkempt garden between early Shane McGowan and Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott. As a guitarist, he seemingly plays with his knuckles, rattling away with a Chuck Berry riff on "Violent Shiver", or exploding into pure, unrecognizable (lovely) distortion on cuts like "Chipewa" or "Have You Seen My Son" (not to mention that unholy howl of a voice). Most impressively, he is one of the few artists since Violent Femmes who cut a rare line between gospel and punk.

29. Mount Moriah, How to Dance  (Merge, Feb 16)

Heather McEntire is as strong a writer and vocalist as Heartless Bastards' Erika Wennerstrom or Hurray For the Riff Raff's Alynda Segarra.  Where Wennerstrom trades in heavy, darker shades, McEntire's music (esp. her new songs) works in bright, natural colors.  Upon first listen, songs like "Baby Blue" and "Calvander" burst with nature imagery.  It's my habit to listen to an album once or twice through before looking at other reviews or promo material.  It was only after looking into the packaging that I found the album's dedication:  This album is dedicated to anyone who has ever felt the cold shadows of oppression or discrimination; to the misfits, the outcasts, the loners, the misunderstood, the underdogs ...

28. Will Johnson, Hatteras Night a Good Luck Charm  (Undertow, Mar 17)

It's the record I was praying Will Johnson would make.  Some songs allow him to explore his untapped skill as a TVZ-type troubadour, while others permit him to indulge in noisy Centro-matic squall.  Like the LP's cover, Hatteras Night is a whole lotta dark, shot through with a cold but abiding little light.  It's a short story (or maybe a cinema vignette) masquerading as an album.

27. Lydia Loveless, Real  (Bloodshot, Aug 16)
I remember heading into a record store during my mid-teens in Grants Pass, Oregon. I can't even recall the name, though I do remember searching my soul in deciding whether to purchase the Ramones' End of the Century, Pretenders' classic debut, or Rachel Sweet's Protect the Innocent. The fact that I opted for the latter speaks loudly for my state of mind at the time. Nevertheless, Lydia Loveless' new album would've fit fine beside all of the above, a retro punk-fueled slice of pop glory that surpasses all expectations. You'll still hear twang now and then, primarily in Loveless' inescapable drawl, but it's nothing more than an ingredient in the mix rather than the driving spirit.

26. Courtney Marie Andrews, May Your Kindness Remain  (Mama Bird, Mar 18)

At a time when decency is hard to find in the public sphere, kindness can be revolutionary, and personal connection can be essential:  When you're trying to be tender / But instead you come off cold / When your sweetness surrenders / To the cruelness of this world.  The songs on May Your Kindness Remain aren't political in the protest sense of the term.  But Andrews does indirectly acknowledge the current state of affairs through these stories.  The title track locates some small salvation in the simple wish that we hold fast to that spark of kindness, of humanity, even as our other trappings may fade:  If your money runs out / And your good looks fade / May your kindness remain ...

25. Lee Bains III & Glory Fires, There is a Bomb in Gilead  (Alive Naturalsound, Mar 12)

Once a member of Dexateens, Bains' new group is currently touring with another hot Alabama band, the Alabama Shakes.  His Glory Fires achieve that difficult balance between deep Southern soul and hard alt.country. On tracks like "Ain't No Stranger" and "Centreville", Bains howls in front of a band that will please any fan of the garage-y grunge of bands like Black Keys.  Other tunes sound like they could've been penned by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham. 

24. Chris Stapleton, Traveller  (Mercury, May 15)

The popular response pegs him as an "outlaw" country guy, and “Might As Well Get Stoned”,  “Outlaw State of Mind” and  “Devil Named Music” assure that the “o” word will be easily attached to Stapleton’s resume, though he’s far bigger than the tired outlaw sub-genre. In the midst of all this hard livin’, heavy drinkin’ and deep sinnin’, there is a brutal honesty to Chris Stapleton’s music.  When too much country is played with a wink or a tongue jammed in cheek, there’s none of this pretense to The Traveller.  Perhaps no song speaks to this better than “Daddy Doesn’t Pray Anymore”, a stark, barebones story that quietly breaks hearts.  Molasses slow, with wheezing harmonica mimicking the sound of a miles-away train.  Daddy doesn’t pray anymore / Guess he’s finished talking with the lord / He used to fold his hands and bow his head down to the floor / But Daddy doesn’t pray anymore

23. Patterson Hood, Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance  (ATO, Sep 12)

It's just that for every great Patterson Hood DBT tune, there was another where I felt he tried a bit hard to be dark and gritty.  More recent albums have seen his writing relax a bit, still focused on the down and out, but less cartoonish, more nuanced.  That trend is realized on his third solo work, the stellar Heat Lightning Rumbles In the Distance, which offers Hood's most poetic, diverse material to date.  DBT members crop up throughout a record that boasts more careful arrangements than we've seen from Hood's previous work.  Like all of his songs, these are character-driven pieces, so haunted and steeped in the mythology of the South that it's not hard to imagine that Heat Lightning reportedly began as a semi-autobiographical novel.  From the title track, Heat lightning rumbles in the distance / The sun's falling west of the trees / The old oak's gone and the house is falling down / But the ghosts are a comfort to me ...

22. Hiss Golden Messenger, Lateness of Dancers  (Merge, Sep 14)

But at the moment the sun is shining right on me / And the road is shimmering in the haze / Oh Ione, your daddy's just as dark as can be / But I can be your little rainbow too ... It's a jewel of a record that comes at the perfect time in our collective discovery of Hiss Golden Messenger.  It's a wandering through the wilderness that will eventually lead back home.  A plunge into a chilly creek that heightens the senses and makes us feel more alive. 

21. Margo Price, Midwest Farmer's Daughter  (Third Man, Mar 16)

With her name on the credits of nearly every song here, Margo Price proves herself a country writer who should be gratefully embraced by the powers behind her genre.  Midwest Farmer's Daughter offers yet another generous lifeline to mainstream country's drowning masses.  Americana crowds have already grabbed ahold as they did with Brandy Clark and Sturgill Simpson.  I killed an angel on my shoulder / With a fifth of Evan Williams / When I found out / You were never comin' home.

20. Austin Lucas, Between the Moon and the Midwest  (Last Chance, May 16)

More than anything it's his voice, a remarkable and otherworldly instrument I first heard on 2007's Putting the Hammer Down.  The following year brought a collaboration with Chuck Ragan exploring bluegrass, gospel and old timey sounds on the beautiful Bristle Ridge.  I can do no better than to introduce Lucas' new record by quoting the opening lines:  I've been told to walk away / Nearly every time I've made an album / I hear there's no good men left / Everyone in Nashville's deaf / And sad songs are a thing of the past / But if I'm an old photograph / Worn and torn and fading fast / In a frame that's shattered, laying on the floor / Maybe this old picture/ Like an old vinyl record / Could be dusted off and loved just like before. 

19. American Aquarium, Burn Flicker Die  (Last Chance, Aug 12)

A number of my favorite blogs have already championed Raleigh's American Aquarium and their sixth album Burn Flicker Die.  Recorded in Muscle Shoals with Jason Isbell at the helm, the new songs boast the best of both of those influences, with the blues and soul inherent in Alabama's legendary studios and the grit and lyrical grace of Isbell's own work.  There's a definite working class toughness to BJ Barham's songs:  You're just a two pack habit with a southern accent / I'm a pearl snap poet with bad tattoos.  But like the best writers, Barham is not ashamed to allow light shine through the cracks or to wear his tattered heart on his sleeve.  Nights like these the drugs don't work / They just get in the way instead of picking me up / I wish my addictions didn't mean so much / But we all can't be born with that kind of luck

18. Delines, Colfax  (El Cortez, Apr 14)

There's great songwriting and then there's the writing of Willy Vlautin.  Previously a musician who also wrote novels, Vlautin has morphed into a novelist who also writes songs.  The frontman for Richmond Fontaine, Vlautin is the author of four excellent stories, including February's The Free.  He'll also go down in my book as the force behind what just might be my favorite record of 2014, the Delines' Colfax.  While his is not the voice you hear (that'd be the Damnations' Amy Boone), those are his words, so perfectly couched in the latenight country/soul groove created by Boone, Richmond Fontaine's Sean Oldham, Decemberists' Jenny Conlee "and friends" (including Tucker Jackson's pedal steel and Freddy Trujillo's bass).  I'm a tremendous fan of Vlautin's previous work, but in some ways the music on Colfax seems to have more in common with his books than his albums.

17. Brittany Howard, Jaime  (ATO, Sep 19)

As the undeniable force behind Alabama Shakes, Howard announced her arrival with 2012's Boys & Girls, an album that largely altered the musical swath we cut for Routes & Branches.  The follow-up, Sound & Color boldly widened that lane, as Howard expanded the Shakes' sound into unforeseen territories of funk 'n soul.  For my purposes, I wanted nothing more than more of the same.  But for the brashest, boldest vocalist in our kind of music, that meant pushing again.  Pushing so far beyond expectations that Jaime merited a separation from Howard's band.  It demanded nothing less that redefining her cut of alien funk, song after song finding her exploring a new pocket, stretching that uncommonly warm and expressive voice in ways that bring it all back home.  She is our Nina Simone.

16. Yola, Walk Through Fire  (Easy Eye, Feb 19)

Where Brittany Howard sought new avenues of expression, Yola's debut full-length warms with the familiar trappings of roots and soul.  With producer Dan Auerbach, she  delivers her songs in arrangements that remind us of these elements that helped birth out kind of music, sounds that should have been there all along.  With baskets of award nominations and end-of-year plaudits, there is the sense that Yola is poised to attract the attention of even more listeners as we head into the next decade.  As she proves on a newly-released take on Elton John's notoriously difficult to sing "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", she really can sing anything.  For that reason, we're so lucky that Yola has chosen to stake her claim using americana music as her home base.  

15. Alejandro Escovedo, Burn Something Beautiful  (Concord, Oct 16)

Whether with True Believers, Rank & File or as a solo veteran, no artist has more thoroughly and successfully explored the full range of musical expression possible in roots music.  He's also proven himself a worthy collaborator over the years, pairing with Stephen Bruton, Jon Dee Graham, John Cale, Chuck Prophet or Tony Visconti for worthy results.  Burn Something certainly rises to these lofty standards, a true pooling of talents with Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck, along with contributions from John Moen, Kurt Bloch, Corin Tucker, Kelly Hogan and Steve Berlin.  With guitars just this side of rude, and some of Escovedo's most relevant writing in years, it's nothing less than a rebirth.

14. John Murry, Graceless Age  (Evangeline, Apr 13)

Murry sings in a slurred baritone that resonates on a level somewhere between the junky hymns of Alejandro Escovedo and the American mythology of Springsteen.  But this is far from your grandpa's americana.  Some songs are almost unbearably sparse, with others slogging through thick levels of feedback, gospel backing vocals and the mumble of barely audible conversation. Murry admits that he is largely influenced by the literature of Faulkner and others, and that touchpoint is evident from start of finish here.  Whether these are intensely personal recollections or the ghosts of an overactive literary imagination, John Murry's Graceless Age is anything but.  

13. Jason Isbell, Southeastern  (Southeastern, Jun 13)

Fresh off an Americana Music Award for his "Alabama Pines" song, Jason Isbell returns with the album of his career.  In addition to the award recognition, Southeastern arrives in the wake of a newfound sobriety and a marriage to Amanda Shires.  None of which means that these new songs are necessarily more upbeat and positive than anything else he has ever written.  Matter of fact, Isbell's victories have seemingly prompted a bout of artistic self-reflection.  Only "Super 8" demonstrates the raucous, devil may care spirit that might have permeated Isbell's earlier work with the Drive-by Truckers.  "Elephant", for instance, is a brutally, beautifully honest portrayal of a man in love with a woman ravaged by cancer:  But I'd sing her classic country songs and she'd get high and sing along / She don't have a voice to sing with now / We burn these joints in effigy and cry about what we used to be. / And try to ignore the elephant somehow, somehow

12. Lucero, All a Man Should Do  (ATO, Sep 15)

Based on a recent on air appearance at R&B's home station, the guys from Lucero continue to make bad choices, to drink too much and to make uncommonly good music.  That said, the young romantic punks from earlier records have more or less grown into soul searching romantics.  Lucero's music has evolved as well, from hard spitting alt.country punk to Memphis roots soul replete with horns and barroom piano.  The commonality through it all is the maturing vision of frontman Ben Nichols, who continues to live it all and to sing about it. When it landed on my desk late this summer, I dearly wanted/needed/expected the record to be this good.

11. Lee Bains III & Glory Fires, Youth Detention  (Don Giovani, Jun 17)

Nobody has generated more of a buzz 'n racket this year than Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires. Youth Detention is punk. And, like the best punk, the double-CD gives us reason to rage while also issuing a rally cry and reminding listeners of what matters in the midst of a social shitstorm. Youth Detention is a truly remarkable document, like a shoebox jammed full with a jumble of memories, impressions, frustrations and identities.

10. Yawpers, American Man  (Bloodshot, Oct 15)

Even as I praised the Yawpers' earlier work, I recognized that the band was a step or two away from self-sabotage.  True, punk isn't punk if it's pretty.  Danger and unease are an essential part of the equation in a band like Cook's.  I'm cautiously encouraged by American Man, however, and we should be eager to follow the trio's story as they cope with the bright lights of relative success - ie, landing near the top of the Routes & Branches year-end favorites list ...  

9.  John Moreland, High on Tulsa Heat  (Old Omens, Apr 15)

Time will gradually decide how High On Tulsa Heat stacks up against John Moreland's earlier classic.  A week into the experience, it's my sense that the album's return to Moreland's fuller sound will earn it a wider audience, and it certainly won't hurt that there's already more promotional effort behind it than there was for the entirety of the Throes campaign.  It still remains to be seen if the mainstream can recognize and embrace such a broken and beautiful body of music, let alone a stained two-day shirt, a worn trucker's hat and hair that probably hasn't seen a comb for a good while.  I've not doubt that the folks who have already so strongly embraced Moreland's work will take the same ownership of Tulsa Heat. 

8.  Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls  (ATO, Apr 12)

More than a year ago, in a written intro to my November 12, 2011 playlist, I made brief mention of an unknown band, and linked to a live recording of "You Ain't Alone".  "This link," I wrote, "just might change your life". 

7.  Sturgill Simpson, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music  (Hilltop Mt, May 14)

Despite my Routes & Branches tagline, looking down my list there is a lot that is only tangentially linked to country music, if at all.  Sturgill Simpson, however, stands for all that I love about the genre.  If you're not paying attention to the lyrics of "Turtles All the Way Down," it's as classic and traditional a vocal delivery as you're bound to find.  "Long White Line" is pure honky tonk.  But then there's the incredible instrumental freakout which closes "It Ain't All Flowers," or the left-field cover of When In Rome's 1980s hit "The Promise".  Metamodern Sounds is not only firmly rooted in the immediately recognizable traditions, it has arguably preserved the genre during a time when what passes for mainstream country has largely unmoored it from its past. 

6.  Drive-by Truckers, American Band  (ATO, Sep 16)

Freed's colorful art projects a cartoon-like impression of Southern life.  We recognize the faces and the broad caricatures, the dark and almost sinister proposition of working class existence.  On American Band, Drive-by Truckers set aside the fables and stories to talk about the warm blood flowing from real people on our streets.  For a band that's flirted for nearly two decades with the edge, it's an impressively mature, measured and heartfelt gesture.  The guitars continue to play loud and the ghosts of Muscle Shoals continue to haunt these songs, even as we struggle to understand the weight that's bringing down the country and our possible role in raising the flag.

5.  Arliss Nancy, Simple Machines  (Suburban Home, Nov 12)

Even once I fell hard for Fort Collins' own Arliss Nancy, it wasn't until I had spent some quality time with Simple Machines that I realized it was worthy of being more than just my favorite Colorado album.  Arliss Nancy's appeal is more elusive.  They have definite punk roots, but also demonstrate an ability to write and play with an atypical finesse.  Lyrically, there is a working class mythology to Arliss Nancy's songs, a youthful disillusion that might even place them in a similar vein as later Replacements or earlier Hold Steady.

4.  Neko Case, Hell-On  (Anti, Jun 18)

Each year, I do my best of honor our commitment to playing music that matters (insert fancy trademark sign here).  This year, that means recognizing one of the most fearless, uncompromising voices in all of music.  While the music world pats itself awkwardly on the back for a cursory celebration of women in music, I'd say that there's not an artist that has presented such a literary masterpiece, not a performer who has exhibited such strength and such fury in the past twelve months.  Case not only stares down the monster, she grabs it by the jaws and devours it.  In a year when Important Statements are in fashion, she simply does what she has done for years.  Neko Case messes with our mythologies, and defines 2018.  

3.  Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free  (Southeastern, Jul 15)

I’ve lived with the record for about a week, to the point where “that new CD smell” has faded a bit.  My relationship with an album is not entirely unlike that with a sweetheart  (wrote the blogger who’s been married for 25+ years): the initial novelty and euphoria, the subsequent “getting to know you” period, and the gradual settling, familiarity and recognition.  I return to this page to confidently announce that I think this is the real thing.  Jason Isbell’s Something More Than Free might just be a masterpiece.

2.  John Moreland, In the Throes  (Last Chance, Jun 13)

Fact is, I am here to praise a man whose new album seems to have shown up on most of my favorite blogs over the past two weeks.  John Moreland's In the Throes is as big a thing in these circles as an artist like John Moreland can be.  And still he deserves more.  Even with all these preliminary accolades, a friend told me of a brilliant Moreland show recently in Denver, attended by almost nobody.  This might be the nature of our kind of music but, if justice prevails, Moreland will have a good deal more company on his next trip thru the state. 

1.  Lydia Loveless, Indestructible Machine  (Bloodshot, Sep 11)

One of the things that first drew me to Bloodshot was the fact that underneath nearly every early release lay a consistent ethos. Their music sounded dangerous. Waco Brothers, Whiskeytown, Old 97s, Split Lip Rayfield. Music that might scare your grandmother, altho it was all inspired by stuff in your grandfather's collection. Reportedly from small town Ohio, Lydia Loveless' music makes alt.country sound dangerous again. So much that sets out to meld country music with punk spirit simply comes off sounding clownish and empty. Loveless' music sounds honest. And honestly dangerous. As a singer, her voice recalls classic country pipes, while at the same time spitting and growling and cursing - Bloodshot actually sent two discs: The original, as well as the censored, with sonic holes punched throughout (like where she advises to, "Write me a love letter / In the gravel with your piss ...").

Couple things stand out about these blurbs.  First, I find it remarkable how my writing has changed over the past ten years, or how writing has become more of a focus of the blog than our playlists.  Of course, a decade ago I was firmly ensconced at a radio station.  My liberation from that servitude redefined the latitudes of what we do here, even as it posed new challenges and new reasons to be frustrated.  I'd also note that the online playing field has been redefined, with several prominent blogs coming, going and evolving.  Today, R&B stands as one of the few purveyors of longform original commentary, a rarity in a field that's increasingly defined by cut-and-paste content and audio/video streaming.

That's it.  Now we reset the tables for the next decade of americana, alt.country and roots music.  We clear the deck in hopes of more excellence and evolution of our kind of music, fully expecting to be thrown into orbit by new artists, musical ideas and unreasonable whims.  As I say, even though I have an alarming tendency to drift into the collective we, ours is a radically individual vision, just the opinions of one guy.  And this one guy is greatly appreciative of anyone else who might find some worth in what happens here, maybe even sending a friend or three our way.  And it's especially heartening when an artist, label or promoter recognizes the reciprocal nature of what we're doing and recommends our site to fans and followers.  Our numbers are growing every year, folks looking for something Else.  But I'm guessing we'll still be here even if those levels flatten out or take a downturn.  In the end, it's just how I encounter and interact with some of the music I appreciate.  God help us all.

Scott