Holiday at the Sea's Favorite Music of 2019

2019 has been a great year for music. From 30-minute mind-melting jams to Tuareg guitar and all kinds in between. I LOVE year-end lists. I love seeing what other people loved, especially if I can find something I hadn’t heard before. And to a lesser extent, who doesn’t like having their tastes confirmed by people much cooler?

But I don’t necessarily like ranking everything. After all, every list is subjective. And is there really any music that is “best”? Maybe you preferred one album to others, but does that really mean it’s “better”? Excuse me while I step off of my soapbox.

And I don’t like not hearing what people recommend. So, as you already know, I made a four-volume mix of some of my favorite music of the year, which I hope you’ve already checked out. If not, feel free to do so here and here and here and here. Also, just one more time of review, I chose 50 songs this year but only 49 albums since ‘Sideways’ by Seryn was released as a single.

Now that you’ve had a chance to to hear the songs, here is the complete list in alphabetical order.

• I Was Real by 75 Dollar Bill

• Mandatory Reality by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society

• Ancestral Recall by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah

• U.F.O.F. by Big Thief

• Sahari by Aziza Brahim

• RE_CORDIS by Bruno Bavota

• i,i by Bon Iver

• V by The Budos Band

• African Giant by Burna Boy

• Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest by Bill Callahan

• Ghosteen by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

• All My Relations by Cochemea

• A Good Time by Davido

• Grow Towards The Light by Dire Wolves

• Sun Cycle / Elk Jam by Elkhorn

• Pianoworks by Eluvium

• Blue Values by Eamon Fogarty

• All Time Present by Chris Forsyth

• Gold Past Life by Fruit Bats

• One Of The Best Yet by Gang Starr

• One Step Behind by Garcia Peoples

• The Unseen In Between by Steve Gunn

• Back At The House by Hemlock Ernst and Kenny Segal

• The Gospel According to Water Joe Henry

• Terms of Surrender by Hiss Golden Messenger

• More Arriving by Sarathy Korwar

• Miri by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

• Sauropoda by L'Eclair

• Ilana (The Creator) by Mdou Moctar

• Stars Are The Light by Moon Duo

• Three Chords and the Truth by Van Morrison

• All Mirrors by Angel Olsen

• Desire Path by One Eleven Heavy

• Phoenix by Pedro the Lion

• Rainford by Lee “Scratch” Perry

• Purple Mountains by Purple Mountains

• Rose City Band by Rose City Band

• ‘Sideways’ by Seryn

• Out of Darkness by Some Dark Hollow

• Illegal Moves by Sunwatchers

• Amankor / The Exile by Tartit

• Amadjar by Tinariwen

• Preserves by Matt Valentine

• Father of the Bride by Vampire Weekend

• Remind Me Tomorrow by Sharon Van Etten

• Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits by Various Artists

• Water Weird by Wet Tuna

• Ode To Joy by Wilco

• The Sisypheans by Xylouris White

• Walk Through The Fire by Yola

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• Listen to Volume 01 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 02 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 03 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 04 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

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Holiday at the Sea’s Favorite Music Label of 2019

My Favorite music label of the year would have to be, without a doubt, Brooklyn’s Beyond Beyond is Beyond. Self-describes as: "“Music for Heads, by Heads,” which just about sums it up. More a vibe than a genre. A way of thinking than a particular style.

With five out of my favorite 49 albums of the year; (Dire Wolves, Garcia Peoples, L'Eclair, One Eleven Heavy, and Matt Valentine (plus, if I had expanded my list or included an “Honorable Mentions” section, this list would have expanded even more. That De Lorians is really good to mention only one more), no other single label presented as much music that I wanted to hear this year.

I can’t wait to hear what’s next.

• Visit the Beyond Beyond is Beyond website

• Visit Beyond Beyond is Beyond’s Bandcamp page for all the goodies

• Follow the label on Facebook

• Follow them on Twitter

Holiday at the Sea's Favorite 2019 Music Mix (Volume 02)

As I mentioned yesterday, we’re doing something different this year with my year-end list of my favorite music of 2019. I’ve made four different playlists so you can hear a representative song from each album I picked.

Today we dive in to Volume 02. Each mix is as close to an hour as I could get them. And as I already mentioned, there are 50 songs, but only 49 albums represented, since ‘Sideways’ by Seryn was released as a single and I’ll present the complete list at the end of the week. I hope you enjoy this second installment.

Volume 02:

Volume 02 Tracklisting:

1. ‘Shepherd’s Welcome’ by Bill Callahan from the album Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest

2. ‘Miri’ by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba from the album Miri

3. ‘Autobiography Of The Upsetter’ by Lee “Scratch” Perry from the album Rainford

4. ‘Vagabond’ by Steve Gunn from the album The Unseen In Between

5. ‘U (Man Like)’ by Bon Iver from the album i,i

6. 1 Milli by Davido from the album A Good Time

7. ‘Three Chords and the Truth’ by Van Morrison from the album Three Chords and the Truth

8. ‘Anybody’ by Burna Boy from the album African Giant

9. ‘To See Darkness’ by Elkhorn from the album Sun Cycle / Elk Jam

10. ‘Hot Potato Soup’ by One Eleven Heavy from the album Desire Path

11. ‘Out of Darkness’ by Some Dark Hollow from the album Out of Darkness

12. ‘Comeback Kid’ by Sharon Van Etten from the album Remind Me Tomorrow

13. ‘Carrier 32’ by Eluvium from the album Pianoworks

14. ‘Bloom’ by Joe Henry from the album The Gospel According to Water

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• Listen to Volume 01 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 03 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 04 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Live in Eugene, OR (1983)

I was reminded of this recording the other day while listening to “Stir” from the fantastic One Eleven Heavy album, Desire Path. One of the songs references listening to Ali Akbar, and it prompted me to pull out this gem and give is a reconsideration. If you’re not familiar with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, The Wikipedias tell us that Ali Akbar Khan:

“was a Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he also composed several classical ragas and film scores. He established a music school in Calcutta in 1956, and the Ali Akbar College of Music in 1967, which moved with him to the United States and is now based in San Rafael, California, with a branch in Basel, Switzerland.”

This is a live recording that I’e had for several years, and according to the wonderful Flat, Black and Classical blog (where you can also download the show):

“Here we have another in the series of cassettes which AMMP Music Productions (i.e., the AACM) released in the mid 1980s documenting the Ustad's collection of concert recordings. The story I have heard, not independently verified by any of the principals, is that Mary Johnson Khan began discovering boxes of reels of recordings of live concerts by her husband placed in odd locations in their home. Places like under a couch or in closets. She apparently decided to start to archive these recordings with the goal of eventually making them available to the public.”

Tabla by Swapan Chaudhuri.

Side A of the cassette begins with Khan explaining what he'll play that evening, followed by “Raga Hem Behag:”

Side B of the cassette features “Raga Bihag:”

• Visit the official website for the Ali Akbar College of Music.

• Purchase Khan’s music at Amazon.

• Listen to “Raga Hem Behag” as featured on Episode 46 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

One Eleven Heavy Hot Potato Soup

Thanks for Curtis Lee Voight for capturing, editing, and sharing this recent footage of One Eleven Heavy live and in the wild. As I posted earlier, I dig One Eleven Heavy. The new album, “Desire Path” has helped solidify the band’s sound while allowing the group to open up and explore more space.

One Eleven Heavy. Live in Plymouth, WI on 9.6.19.

• Visit the band’s official website.

• Support One Eleven Heavy at Bandcamp.

• Follow the group at Facebook.

• Follow the band at Twitter.

• Visit One Eleven Heavy’s page at Riot Act Media.

• Purchase the group’s music at Amazon.

• View all my posts about One Eleven Heavy.

Hoooo-Weeee! One Eleven Heavy! Detroit and NYC!

If you don’t know the music of One Eleven Heavy, then what kind of friend have I been to you? I’m sorry. Allow me to remedy that. Aquarium Drunkard says:

A transatlantic affair, the group features songwriters James Toth (Wooden Wand) and Nick Mitchell Maiato (Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura), along with bassist Dan Brown (Royal Trux), drummer Ryan Jewell (Solar Motel Band), and pianist Hans Chew (Steve Gunn, Hiss Golden Messenger).

NPR says:

There's a dancing bear slapped on the back of a station wagon cranking out a copy of Europe '72 — it's no deep dive from one of Dick's Picks, but it's a solid collection of live sets, with Grateful Dead at the top of its game. You exchange eyes with the driver, acknowledge the good-times jams, and counter with a '77 date. Soon enough, you're holding up traffic, but the songs keep on truckin'.

This wasn't quite the Cosmic Americana meet-cute for James Toth (Wooden Wand) and Nick Mitchell Maiato (of Manchester psych-rockers Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura), but it's not too far off. When Toth was on a U.K. tour 10 years ago, the two bonded over Crazy Horse, the Dead and Little Feat — rock bands that thrived on wild-eyed improvisation, but still knew how to write an easygoing melody.

The band’s debut Everything’s Better is a terrific slice of Cosmic Americana and the band’s second album Desire Path is due out September 20 and is available for preorder now.

The fabulous NYC Taper recently recorded and posted the One Eleven Heavy 09/01/19 show at Union Pool in NYC. Stream here and head over to the show’s page at NYC Taper to download for yourself. And, please, thank and support tapers and the bands they tape.

And, as if that fabulous recording is not enough, the fantastic Detroit Lightning blog recorded and posted the band’s 09/05/19 show at Outer Limits Lounge, Hamtramck, MI. You can stream the show here but head over to the show’s page at Detroit Lightning to download the show for yourself. And, please, thank and support tapers and the bands they tape.

Hear “Mardi Gras” from the upcoming album Desire Path.

• Visit the band’s official website.

• Support One Eleven Heavy at Bandcamp.

• Follow the group at Facebook.

• Follow the band at Twitter.

• Visit One Eleven Heavy’s page at Riot Act Media.

• Purchase the group’s music at Amazon.