Andy Pastalaniec (Chime School) We did a bit of touring in 2024! In no particular order here’s some of our favorite food and drinks along the way:
1. Espresso and Patisserie at Le Sullyin Paris, France.
2. Picon Bière – Amer Picon (orange liqueur) mixed with Kronenbourg 1664, at Le Hasard Ludiquein Paris, France.
3. Pie and Mash; Scotch Eggs, from Tebay Farmshop, Tebay, UK.
4. “$2.95 All-Day Breakfast” at Bon’s off Broadway, Vancouver BC.
5. Anything on the menu at Salsa & Beer, Los Angeles. 6. GONZO Ramen, Carlsbad, CA. Seriously the best Ramen any of us have ever had.
7. Curry and Porotta bread from Kerala South Indian Restaurant, Coventry, UK. On the same block as Just Dropped In Records!
8. Cheeseburgers at Hattie’s Hat, Seattle, WA.
9. Buckfast Tonic Wine, Glasgow, UK, for a much needed pre-show “pick me up”!
10. Fresh salads, juices, and packet sandwiches from any and all motorway stops in the UK; they kept us healthy on tour!
Seablite with Laetitia Sadier (photo courtesy of Seablite)
Dawn Sutter Madell (Agoraphone) + Trixie Madell (Girl Scout Handbook) Best Shows We Saw Together 2024
PJ Harvey at Terminal 5
Sun Ra Arkestra at Central Park, Sony Hall
Kim Gordon Central Park
Yo La Tengo at Sony Hall
Bikini Kill at Paramount
Adrienne Lenker Music Hall of Williamsburg
Quasi at Bowery Ballroom
Off Pink at a record store
Julien Baker, Torres at Webster Hall
Bratmobile at Warsaw
X, Jon Spencer, Lydia Loveless, Finom at Square Roots Festival, Chicago
Sweeping Promises, Jessica Pratt, Brittany Howard, Grandmaster Flash, De La Soul, Mannequin Pussy, Muna at Pitchfork Chicago
Son Rompe Pera, Fishbone at Prospect Park
Favorite book: my favorite book this year was published in 1970, it’s “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”, by Dee Brown. This was my choice for my non-fiction bookclub, so I also forced a few other people to read it. It was so well written, easy to read, interesting, fascinating, enlightening and unbearably tragic. I can’t stop thinking about it, and I wish I’d read it 30 years ago.
Favorite cocktail: the Hugo, which is St. Germain elderflower liqueur, Prosecco, seltzer & mint. Except I put the liquid in a blender and add ice and make a slushy, which is fabulouso, but dangerous, lol
Favorite meal: post graduation dinner at Thompson and Bleeker in Ithaca NY. Amazing pizza, fantastic salads, delicious cold beer, and not insanely expensive!!
Favorite radio shows: I love listening to two radio shows on WMBR.org, “Coffee Time” from 2-4 on Friday, and “Backwoods” from 10-12 on Saturdays. Both remind me that the weekend is coming or is here, so time to chill out!
Favorite movie: “My Old Ass” which was so sweet and lovely, see it if you can!
Favorite songs: “Gild the Lily,” by Billy Strings. It’s a country music song that reminds me of country songs that my mom would listen to on the radio when I was a kid. Plus, it’s about birds singing, which is lovely.
I also love that song “Sexy to Someone” by Clairo; it’s catchy, cute and the keyboards sound so cool.
Mario and Riley – Courtesy of Riley
Riley Riley (Artsick/Boyracer) – Favorites of 2024: Music in alphabetical order:
Adrianne Lenker “Bright Future” Beth Gibbons “Lives Outgrown” Billie Eilish “Hit Me Hard And Soft” The concert was amazing.
Doechii “Alligator Bites Never Heal” Kim Deal “Nobody Loves You More” Mo Dotti “Opaque” Rachel Love “Lyra” The Softies “The Bed I Made” WUT “Mingling With The Thorns”
Fav local Seaside/Monterey Bay things:
1. Mando Surf Company is a local surfboard shaper and a friend of mine. Their boards are gorgeous pieces of art, one of which ended up at SFMOMA for their “Get in the Game” exhibit.
2. Pop and Hiss is a new local venue/record shop/bar in Pacific Grove. Super cool spot to check out if in the area.
3. Captain Stoker Coffee is delicious and the best coffee in Monterey IMO
Fav things I did: 1. Oakland Weekender 2024 happened at Thee Stork Club and was amazing… again!
2. Played a PNW mini tour with my favs, All Girl Summer Fun Band and Kids On A Crime Spree. Major bonus: got to see Gail!
3. Played a couple of shows with my besties band, WUT and got to join them for a couple songs live.
4. Danced to an incredible set by Kid Frostbite with friends.
5. The new Boyracer record called “Seaside Riot” came out and I am so proud to be part of it.
6. Drove down to Big Sur with my family, parked on a cliff and saw the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet… it was breathtaking and such a memorable moment. It was last visible 80,000 years ago.
7. Read “You Better Be Lightning” by Andrea Gibson
8. Dog cuddles
9. Hiking in Big Sur
10. Got to hangout with Kim Baxter from AGSFB in Monterey… we had the best time getting some food and sitting by the water.
11. Recording new Artsick
12. Mushroom Tea…
RYLI at the 4 Star Theater! This is Yea Ming Chen’s new band & I was driven to dance. That woman knows how to write a pop song!
Watching Josh Miller play bass in Chime School AND Anna Hillburg Band, both experiences are mind-bending
Watching Ladybug Transistor reunion live in LA at the Lodge Room. Trumpets, flutes, & song craft from Sasha, Jennifer, Gary, Julia, and Jeff. What a group!
Gerard Love at Glasgoes Pop! What a voice! (And with the crowd singing along it was like the best party)
Heavenly at Glasgoes Pop dancing with Kenji (The Fairways forever) & Ari (Poastal forever)! I nearly died!
The Softies, with Anna Hillburg at Bottom of the Hill, because OMG it’s The Softies. Also, bonus, Rose sang a song with Anna & it was epic.
Galore! Anywhere they play, every time. Three part harmonies and killer melodies. I die again.
Shannon Shaw at the Fox with my buddies Noelle & The Deserters. Epic venue, epic night.
Lightheaded at the Oakland Weekender!! They ripped! I was not expecting the ferocity of pop that came our way, all the way from Jersey, I love them.
Jessica Pratt at Bimbos. Her album made my year, and seeing her perform the songs live was otherworldly.
1. Caribou- Campfire
2. Seefeel- Multifolds
3. Chris Cohen- Night and Day
4. Real Estate- Airdrop
5. Orcas- Riptide
6. Mahogany- A Scaffold
7. Bedroom- Her Ghost
8. Epic45- New Town Faded
9. Dottie- Disappearing
10. Royksopp- Camera Obscura (but actually the whole album, Nebulous Nights)
Caley Conway, Partner
Refrigerator, Get Lost
Jeff Parker, The Way Out Of Easy
Mountain Movers, Walking After Dark
The Special Pillow, Meets The Space Monster
Little Hag, Now That’s What I Call Little Hag
Daga Voladora, Los Manantiales
Shady Cove, Part II
Oneida, Expensive Air
Cornelius, Ethereal Essence
Roger Moutenot, Microcosm
Ava Mendoza, The Circular Train
David Nance, David Nance & Mowed Sound
Alan Sparhawk, White Roses My God
Tim Heidecker, Slipping Away
Alan Licht, Havens
Julie Beth Napolin, Only The Void Stands Between Us
Mark Robinson (Teen-Beat Records, Cotton Candy) Kali Malone, All Life Long (record)
Miranda July, All Fours (book)
Kim Gordon, The Collective (record)
Ruben Pater, Caps Lock (book)
hollAnd, Green Text (record)
Katherine Small Gallery (store)
White Manna, Hackensack, NJ (restaurant)
Henry Smith, Film No.18 (Mahagonny) (film)
Bakar, Halo (record)
Escape-ism Black Gold (record)
Mount Kimbie, The Sunset Violent (record)
Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga, The Courage to Be Disliked (book)
King Krule, Shhhhhhhh! (record)
Papa Slumber’s Top Ten Listens of 2024 (Slumberland Records) Ability II – Rediscovered (I9M)
Autocamper – Blanche (Safe Suburban Home)
Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes – Janice Long Session 11.11.86 (Precious)
Shabaka Hutchings – Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace (Impulse!)
Rachel Love – Lyra (The Cat Collects)
The Moment of Nightfall & Tony Jay – Winter Dream (Kilikilivilla)
Sharp Pins – Radio DDR (Sharp Pins)
Nala Sinephro – Endlessness (Warp)
The Softies – The Bed I Made (Father/Daughter)
v/a – Lost Paradise: Blissed Out Breakbeat Hardcore 1991-94 (Blank Mind)
I’m not going to get any less angry, so here we go:
Fanzines – loads of brilliant photos, pictures and writing, perhaps replacing record sales. Maybe we all need to evolve…
Clairo – get the latest lp if you haven’t already..
now..
really, are you still here?…
go… get the latest Clairo album, come back, read on…
Do not read on without that Clairo lp
YOU GOT IT? Ok, read on
Heavenly – they have returned just when we need them the most – May I be among the first to solemnly declare allegiance to the flag of FUCK YOU NO WAY
Saturday Night Fever – seen for the first time in 2024, after nearly fifty years of being told “it’s not what you think it is” it wasn’t what I thought it was. Led to me listening to a LOT of disco, good and bad, and buying a LOT of paint.
Italian exploitation soundtracks of the 70’s – turns out it’s the best music there is
Despair – we did our best, it was fun while it lasted, but the cunts have been voted in, promoting the far right, buying politicians and media networks – but remember everyone who didn’t vote for it, we stand together, we are here for each other. I don’t know what it means, but if there is anything I can help with I am here – wiaiwya on most media (fuck you billionaires, we will use your networks while we can) – please get in touch – we are here for each other…
The future – it is ours… it has to be.
FUCK YOU NO WAY
Can you say cunt in America? Hope you can’t and you will anyway- because he is one!
Some books from 2024 that I have read/am reading and thoroughly enjoy – not in hierarchical order, but I do love Joni Mitchell more than most things:
• Traveling on the Path of Joni Mitchell by Ann Powers is my fave of the new books I’ve purchased this year because, well, Joni. There is not a wasted syllable in it, and the “traveling” and “path” is an extended metaphor for both Joni and author Ann Powers.
• How Women Made Music includes two photographs by me, but that’s not why I love it. It is an important reference work of NPR dispatches with thorough curation by Alison Fensterstock. I have lost track of how many people who have received this book from me as a gift. If you still haven’t gifted anyone anything yet – I highly suggest How Women Made Music. And sharing good reads isn’t just for Christmas or year-end lists.
• In Under a Rock, Blondie’s co-founder, Chris Stein delivers a delightful valentine to the NYC of his youth. It’s no wonder Blondie was a pioneering musical project. I wish that NYC still existed.
• The surrealist next door, my former neighbor and lifetime icon of pop surrealism, Robyn Hitchcock also paints a picture of his Groover origin story in 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left. He made a companion album to go along with it, which is a fave listen as well.
• The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture. I lived in NYC for 20 years, but I read the Village Voice long before and long after I lived there. What a fantastic biography of a print icon! Bravo Tricia Romano onyour widely heralded book!
• Cue the Sun: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum I’ve worked in television, and I grew up in Santa Barbara and witnessed the Loud family open their lives to the PBS series about them – An American Family, which was the first “reality show” in the early 1970s. Emily Nussbaum nailed this on every point; she has been writing about television for a long, long time and deftly connects all the dots. I am a hard one to convince, since this particular example took place in my very hometown at the peak of my snarky teenage phase. Read for yourself, Emily got it right !
• Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius. I have a personal obsession with the films ISHTAR and REDS, which Elaine May wrote, and co-wrote (no on-screen credit for REDS), and so does the author Carrie Courogen who appropriately identifies Elaine May as “Hollywood’s Hidden Genius.” This is a phenomenal effort and it places my head in a space that helps me understand why I am happy when I’m immersed in ironic satire.
Music and Film – Mostly I was underwhelmed this year – too much hype; too little deliverance. That being said, The The in concert was impressive, with the first set being their new album, Ensoulment, and after a brief intermission, a set of hits and fan faves. Way back in January, I saw Elvis Costello & the Imposters put on the best concert (3+ hours!!) I’ve ever seen and heard.
Kim Baxter’s (All Girl Summer Fun Band) Top 10 Favorite Things About Reuniting with AGSFB in 2023
The amazing feeling that occurred when the 3 of us got together and started playing music again. It was like no time had passed at all. I didn’t realize just how much I had missed playing with Jen & Kathy.
Having friends come to our shows that we hadn’t seen in ages!
Encountering the nicest and most helpful sound people that we have ever worked with.
Jen’s contagious excitement for playing shows & recording music again, her awesome playlists & podcast selections, and her ability to drive for hours on end.
Figuring out that if we rent an AirBnB with a garage, we don’t have to unload our gear each night. Our favorite new tour hack!
Getting to play shows with so many awesome bands & people-Tony Molina, Mo Troper, The Softies, Growing Pains, Who Is She?, Love in Hell, Tony Jay, Kids on a Crime Spree, Rose Melberg, Lunchbox, Wifey, Field Drums.
Catching up, cracking up, and built-in therapy + pep talks with Jen & Kathy at band practices and on the road.
Hitting all of the health food co-ops on tour (Kathy is an expert at finding them) and being instantly transported back to the 90’s by the smell of nutritional yeast and nag champa.
Sitting around in our PJs after shows and watching back-to-back episodes of Selling Sunset together (so bad, yet so good).
Making plans for future shows and writing & recording new music!
Favorite Youth Slang – LFG! (In a text, it means Let’s Fucking Go)
Great albums – Black Rainbows by Corinne Bailey Rae; The Water, The Sky by Black Belt Eagle Scout
Favorite Books – My Murder by Katie Williams and The Fraud by Zadie Smith
James McNew’s Favorite songs 2023:
Staple Singers, “The Gardener” (1970)
The Cyclones with Count Ossie, “Meditation” (1973)
Thin Lizzy, “The Friendly Ranger at Clontorf Castle” (1971)
Jimmy Flemion, “Oh Babe, What Would You Say” (2022)
Little Obsessions, “Can’t See What’s Mine” (2023)
Rob Sonic, “Mink” (2023)
Dave Edmunds, “Where Or When” (1977)
Flo and Eddie, “Keep It Warm” (1976)
Ceremony, “Your Life In France” (2015)
Yozoh, “Tommy” (2022)
The Notwist, “Sans Soleil” (2021)
Evelyn Hurley (Cotton Candy): Top fave shows of 2023
I watched a lot of good television shows this year, so in no real order, here’s a list of a few or my favorite tv shows for 2023:
Slow Horses – this TV show is on a lot of peoples “Best Of” lists and there’s a good reason for that, it’s really good! The acting and stories are super suspenseful, and it’s really funny. Highly recommend!
Rain Dogs – this is a British TV show which was really touching, even though the protagonists are somewhat unlikeable and flawed. The lead actress/writer/creator, Daisy May Cooper, is super talented, and she has another show on my list, which is called…
Am I Being Unreasonable? – this is the other Daisy May Cooper show on my list, and it’s completely different from Rain Dogs. The story is so compelling and the twist at the end had me literally screaming. Definitely watch this if you can, you will not forget it.
Schmigadoon – the second season of this show was based on the musical Chicago rather than Brigadoon, and songs are catchy, the story is clever, and the singing and acting is so good. It’s a great series, watch it if you get the chance, especially if you’re old an old theater kid like me.
Afterparty – this is also the second season of this show, and it’s really so well done with clever, jokes and great acting by everyone. I did not predict the ending at all!
Physical – this was the third and final season of the show and in my opinion it’s really one of the best TV shows I’ve seen in years. Rose Byrne is so excellent, which is saying a lot because every single actor in the show is fantastic. I can see why some people are uncomfortable with this show because it might trigger some trauma people have had with an eating disorder, but the way she portrays a working business woman in the 80’s, with all the references to exercise trends, clothing, foods, is really well done without being preachy or grating. Also, big shout out to Zooey Deschanel, whose portrayal of a zany character was so great.
Big Door Prize – the show was kind of a sleeper but I thought it was really good. Chris O’Dowd is really hilarious in an understated way, and Josh Segarra was so great as the almost-successful hockey player-has been. I still can’t really figure out what is going with the plot, show but it’s a good show!
Hijack – this Idris Elba show was so good, but it’s really suspenseful, so don’t watch it if you don’t like being stressed out.
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields – this is an amazing documentary about Brooke Shields and how she grew up in the public eye in the 70’s & 80’s. I grew up the same time as Brooke, so all the footage of her childhood was a trip down memory lane for me, only this time I realized how incredibly exploited she was by almost everyone in her life. She handled every single man, woman, TV star, movie star, interviewer, journalist, etc… with such grace and respect, even though they were all usually acting like massive creeps. (Looking at you, Bob Hope.)It’s incredible how she turned out so well adjusted, because she seems like a really cool person.
WHAM! documentary – I’m a big George Michael & Wham! fan, and this documentary was really well done and very sweet. It showed how incredibly talented and driven George Michael and Andrew Ridgely were. I especially loved how tormented George Michael was when he knew that his song “Last Christmas” wasn’t going to be the number one Christmas song because Band Aid would knock it off of its 1st place space, even though he was also on that song. But I especially loved the sweet friendship they had, and it makes me sad that Yog died way too young.
Sukhdev Sandhu (Photo: Gail O’Hara)
Sukhdev Sandhu (English professor, critic, event creator, and CF contributor/MC)
* Chiara Ambrosio is one of the most teeming, tireless people I know. She lives in London, is a writer and an artist and a filmmaker and a puppeteer and a publisher, and champions that which deserves championing. In this year alone: a linocut response to Yannis Ritsos’s Monochords; The Book of Raft – a companion to an upcoming film championing cultural hubs/ holdouts in London; a wonderful event at The Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury – which featured broom-dancing children, Kurdish singing and mulled wine-enhanced wassailing deep into the December night.
* I’m not sure if Mike Rubin ever sleeps. Almost every night he ranges across New York, shows in places both lofty and busted, often attending more than one event – jazz, hip hop, soul and post-soul, mangled electronica, beats from all across the world. He documents these fastidiously, making sure musicians and performers are properly credited, and flagging them up on his crucial Instagram page. It’s a wonderful resource and, in the words of the Caught by the River magazine, ”an antidote to indifference”.
* Archive Books. These days, every bookshop, big or small, cussedly individual or corporate, deserves at least two cheers. And then there’s Archive Books in Marylebone, London. It’s hard enough to get inside, far less glide down its aisles. There’s no space – except to wonder. Its shelves tower and teeter. Edwardiana for a couple of quid. Cricketing autobiographies, collected journalism of long-forgotten Fleet Strack hacks, self-published cookery books, an Aladdin’s cave of a basement crammed with music scores. Impossible to leave, most likely hours later, without a couple of bags of unknown pleasures in hand.
* There are more famous names in food journalism, but Sheila Dillon is in a league of her own. Since the late 1980s, she’s been reporting for – and later presenting – BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme. Week after week, with clarity and dry wit, she has kept listeners in the now about topics such as the baneful power of the big supermarket chains, the BSE scandal, the fall of Communism’s impact on Russian food systems. Never talking down, pretending to be our pal, or following critical fashions, she is a truly great broadcaster.
* I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue. If England still exists, it’s here in this BBC Radio 4 panel show that’s been running since 1972. Its first host was jazzbo Humphrey Lyttelton, about whom Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood said, “Without his direction, we’d never have recorded/ released ‘Life in a Glasshouse.” One of the programme’s quizzes – Mornington Crescent – is as recondite as any Fall lyric. Another – ‘Uxbridge English Dictionary’ – requires contestants to supply new definitions for existing terms; among those proposed in the Christmas 2024 edition were “aspic: disgusting habit”; “jacuzzi: French for ‘I blame myself'”, and “criteria: cafe for sad people”.
* Radio – live, now, happenstance – is still a thrill. My favourites are Andres Lokko on Sveriges Radio – 2pm every Sunday. Kevin Pearce-style Modernism forever! And Jack Rollo, half of Time Is Away, helming The Early Bird Show on Fridays from 7-9am. Aching folk, glassy ambient techno, worlds of echo, a hush and a huddle for everyone who’s just about made it through another week.
* Back in March, I was lucky enough to be allowed to stage a screening, the first in North America, of Being Mavis Nicholson. How I adored the Welsh TV interviewer when I was younger. So curious, warm, intelligent. She called herself “a natural gasser”. The documentary’s director Carolynn Hitt was closer to the truth: “When a conversation is good, you’re so engrossed in it, it’s like a blanket going round you both…”
* Art galleries: take them away. Too many pious shows, lumpy wall-text, the visitors samey-same. I’ve been going, more and more, to museums. More history, sense of place, modesty. More ‘there’ there. Among my favourites this year the Stadsmuseet in Stockholm, the Franziskaner Museum in Villingen (particularly the spectacularly alarming masks and colourful costumes associated with the annual Fastnacht festivities in southern Germany), and the KattenKabinet in Amsterdam Bob Meijer founded in 1990 to celebrate feline portraiture. There are sleepy cats in some of the townhouse rooms and in the garden. Everything about the place is purr-worthy.
* Monica Zetterlund and Sivuca performing together. That scarf!
* East Broadway, New York City. When you want to get away, when you want to stay, when you want to feel like you’re somewhere: East Broadway – in the autumn, Thursday afternoons, breezes and leaf-carpeted sidewalk. Stay outside, go inside – it doesn’t matter. Carol’s Bun, Ritualarium, The House of Sages. Walk your blues, walk into blue, walk off your blues.
As always: The Style Council, ‘It’s A Very Deep Sea’; Woo, ‘This Love Affair’; Kevin Ayers, ‘May I?’; Nico Fidenco, ‘Ligados’. But also: Erlend Øye & La Comitiva, ‘Mornings and Afternoons’; The Embassy, ‘Escape’; Guy Cabay, ‘Pôve Tièsse’; Romy, ‘She’s On My Mind’.
Gail O’Hara / CF editor/photographer’s ten songs stuck in my head:
Things I’m looking forward to: New Softies and Umbrellas albums, Heavenly and 69LS shows
Pete Paphides (Photo: Gail O)
Pete Paphides (author, critic, Needle Mythology records)
Condiment/seasoning of 2023: Vegan Smoky Bacon Nooch by Notorious Nooch Co.
Protein shake of 2023: Milk (semi-skimmed or oat), peanut butter, whey powder, one frozen banana, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, almonds. Blend. Drink. Oh my god.
Sandwich of 2023: The simple tomato sandwich. Trust me. Nothing else. Just some buttered bread and a sliced room-temperature tomato with a dash of salt.
Various artists anthology of 2023: Disco Discharge presents Box Of Sin. A four LP soundtrack to the gay clubbing experience of the 80s.
Single artist anthology of 2023: The Teardrop Explodes: The Teardrop Explodes: Culture Bunker 1978-1982
Music memoir of of 2023: Paul Simpson: Revolutionary Spirit – A Post-Punk Exorcism
Memoir of 2023: John Niven: O Brother
Most heroic, articulate and humane corrective to toxic masculinity of 2023: Caitlin Moran: What About Men?
Late to the party TV experience of 2023 (i): Better Call Saul
Late to the party TV experience of 2023 (ii): Season one of Fargo, especially Billy Bob Thornton as Lorne Malvo
Cereal of 2023: Robert Forster’s Spring Grain muesli
Football (soccer) hero of 2023: Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou in the interview after losing to Chelsea with two men sent off and refusing, on point of principle, to adjust to a defensive formation in order to avoid being pummelled by their eleven man opponents: “It’s just who we are, mate. As long as I’m here, that’s what we’re going to do. ‘Even with five men, we’ll have a go.’”
Carb replacement of 2023: Edamame spaghetti.
Gig of 2023, not including gigs by humans I had a hand in making: The Northern Soul Proms at The Royal Albert Hall; The Soup Dragons at Electric Ballroom; The Bluebells at Glasgow St Lukes
Gig of 2023, including gigs by humans I had a hand in making: Eaves Wilder’s last-minute set on the second stage at Glastonbury (replacing the also-brilliant Japanese Breakfast, who were/was stuck in transit).
Song of 2023, not including songs by humans I had a hand in making or artists whose album was released on my label: Nadine Shah: Topless Mother
Song of 2023, including songs by humans I had a hand in making: Eaves Wilder: Freefall. Literally my most played song of the year
Song of 2023, including songs by artists whose album was released on my label: Iraina Mancini: Cannonball. Or maybe this was my most played song. It’s close.
Album of 2023, including albums released on my label: Iraina Mancini: Undo The Blue.
Album of 2023, not including albums released on my label: Grian Chatten: Chaos For The Fly; Beatowls: Marma; Mitski: The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
Exhibition of 2023: Women In Revolt!, Tate Britain
Parental pride moments of 2023: Seeing the results of Dora Paphides’ astonishing work for The Last Dinner Party’s My Lady Of Mercy, Fred Roberts’ Say and Chinchilla’s Cut You Off; Running along Brighton seafront to a Eaves Wilder’s just-released Hookey EP and thinking my heart was about burst (in an utterly wonderful way).
Inspired musical collision of 2023: John Douglas from Trashcan Sinatras on my Soho Radio show, creating a brand new acoustic accompaniment to the vocal of Stormzy’s Firebabe.
Lazarus-style return of 2023: The Bathers: Sirenesque
Label of 2023: Last Night From Glasgow
Drink of 2023: Sainsbury’s own brand peach iced tea. And you can have as much as you want because zero calories
Meet your heroes pinch-me moment of 2023: Interviewing Chrissie Hynde for Record Collector. I was told one hour. Three hours later, I left and somehow my car hadn’t been clamped or ticketed.
Best album recommended to me by one of my heroes: When I got to Chrissie Hynde’s apartment, she played me Spooky Two by Spooky Tooth. The first thing I had to do after I left was locate a copy.
Chocolate of 2023: Snacksy Raw Chocolate with Ginger
Cake of the year: McVities Jamaica Ginger Cake with Madagascan Vanilla Custard. In a teacup or mug, eaten with a teaspoon. Whilst watching Great British Bake-Off on the sofa.
Belated realisation of 2023: Boiled eggs make great hand warmers + once you’ve warmed your hands on them, you can eat them.
Record I Didn’t Realise I Most Needed In 2023: dEUS: How To Replace It
Most perplexingly ignored album of 2023: Keaton Henson: House Party
Best Instruction Given By An Artist When Telling Their Band How To Play Their Songs During The Recording Of An Album: “Just try and channel the soundtrack of Ten Things I Hate About You” – Keaton Henson
Big-hearted, perfectly judged, very very very funny movie of 2023: No Hard Feelings. Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman both just utterly perfect in it.
Andrew Bulhak (musicwriter, DJ) Top Songs of 2023 (not necessarily in this order): Emma Anderson – Clusters
the bv’s – warp
Hot Coppers – Hot Coppers
Jimmy Whispers – Ice Cream Truck
Lael Neale – I Am The River
Leah Senior – The Music That I Make
Pickle Darling – Kinds of Love
Slowdive – Kisses
Spearmint – tell me about my sister
Spunsugar – Metals
Strawberry Runners – Circle Circle
yeule – dazies
Borrowed from https://www.instagram.com/macsuperchunk/
Mac McCaughan (Superchunk, Merge Records): Fave Reissue / Archival Releases of 2023
Pharoah Sanders – Pharoah (Luaka Bop)
Reissue of an album by the jazz giant we lost last year that you pretty much just had to listen to on YouTube until now unless you had hundreds of dollars for an original copy. The music (incl a bonus LP of unrelease live performances) is amazing and the package includes a booklet, photographs, flyer reproductions and other ephemera.
Chin Chin – Cry In Vain (Sealed Records)
My fault for not knowing about this incredible all-girl Swiss punk group from the 80s. Amazing songs which remind me of a slightly more aggro Look Blue Go Purple. Can’t stop listening!
Milford Graves / Arthur Doyle / Hugh Glover – Children of the Forest (The Black Editions)
The Black Editions label has uncorked a flow of powerful free jazz archival releases over the last few years and this previously unreleased home-recorded by Graves performance from 1976 is essential. The world will be catching up with Milford Graves forever i think.
Masayuki Takayanagi – Mass Hysterism In Another Situation (The Black Editions)
Electric guitar destruction from ’83 and a two-guitar & drums trio led by Takayanagi. Massive.
Milford Graves / Don Pullen – The Complete Yale Concert 1966 (Corbett Vs Dempsey)
Speaking of Milford Graves, i keep trying to imagine what the audience expected / what they got when they attended this intense performance in 1966… Long out of print and lovingly put back together by the fine people at Corbett Vs Dempsey.
Arthur Russell – Picture of Bunny Rabbit (Rough Trade)
The Arthur Russell archive may be bottomless but if it’s all as listenable as what’s been excavated so far I hope they keep it coming.
Hiroshi Yoshimura – Surround (Light In The Attic)
“Environmental music” commissioned by a home builder to play in their living spaces or something like that… recorded the same year as one my favorite ambient records ever, Yoshimura’s Green LP and never reissued before, Surround is as liquid and beautiful as the sleeve suggests.
John Coltrane – Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy (Impulse)
Minor Threat – Out of Step Outtakes 7″ (Dischord)
The titles of these two releases tell you all you need to know!
Broken Greek by Pete Paphides – lovely, just lovely, but you all know this, right?… you no doubt all have it already, and have been similarly enjoying it (both physically, and as an audiobook) throughout lockdown, listening to the accompanying playlist, thinking about your own childhood, remembering your own teen music obsessions… also, not bragging, but the last gig I went to was the book launch (Chrissie Hynde! David Arnold! Mike Batt! – basically, a better lineup than Live Aid) and the last non-partner hug I had was from Pete!
Jackie Mittoo – working from home has meant listening to more music during the day, and after a few weeks of trying different playlists to see what was easiest to work with (I went through a lot of Dungeon Synth, ’60s soundtracks, and ambient tracks), I settled on instrumental reggae, ska, rocksteady and dub, which in turn has led to a minor obsession with Jackie Mittoo records… solid gold…
Spun Out of Control – a cassette label that went vinyl during 2020 – broadly they release creepy electronic not-soundtracks to nonexistent horror films that have become the actual soundtrack to a LOT of walks through empty West London streets this year… treat yourself to the Sleepers by Hattie Cooke:
Double Deckers – “The chocolate bar is structured in two layers; a lightly whipped nougat layer, with a lower layer of cereal “crispies,” these are then coated in milk chocolate”… need I say more?
Disaster films – this year I’ve been watching a LOT of worlds ending, buildings collapsing, planes crashing, volcanoes erupting, diseases spreading, boats sinking and SHARKS… the Poseidon Adventure is the best one
Singing Streets app – I tend to walk the same streets for my daily exercise, it’s just easier not having to think… the Singing Streets app was launched at the start of September, and I found out, among other things, that Bryan Ferry’s Studio (where Prince recorded!), the house where Freddie wrote BoRap and the caff off the front of Common People were all on my daily route… I branched out to walks from where Dan Treacy went to school to where Syd Barrett lived (via the Troubadour, David Gilmour’s old flat, the Nashville Rooms and the Beggars Banquet shop) and from the studio where Buzzcocks recorded “What Do I Get?” and “Orgasm Addict” on 9 Sept 1977 to the place Bolan died one week later.
Discogs – Finally catching up with adding all my records to Discogs, realising how much utter rubbish I have, having a clear out, and using the money from any sales to treat myself to deluxe versions of Saint Etienne albums, and…
Paul Collins– I Don’t Fit In, the Paul Collins autobiography was announced over the summer, copies came with a 7-inch but postage from the states was crippling… a discogs sale for exactly the value of the book, record and postage, came in and I bought the book, all in a couple of minutes… I listened to a LOT of the Nerves this year too…
Joy Division – I’ve always dismissed them as a not-as-good OMD, with a good song I’m a bit bored of (you know the one) and a great song that keeps getting better (Atmosphere), but a combination of the Stephen Morris book (excellent, really funny, tragic) and the Transmissions podcast narrated by Maxine Peake has led to a reappraisal, and finally listening to a pair of 40-year-old albums… turns out they’re pretty good (not as good as OMD though)…
Very early pre-orders – ordering records, forgetting about them, and getting them in the post months later is great… in 2020 new ones from Taylor Swift and Kelly Lee Owens arrived as a surprise, as well as the reissue of Sisters by the Bluebells, and Forever by the Spice Girls… I’ve just checked, and there is still a Pye Corner Audio box set, the new Insides LP and another from Taylor Swift in the pipeline… roll on 2021
Photograph of Nikki by Gail O’Hara
Nikki McClure (artist)
10 people I want to hug as tight as I can and I’m not much of a hugger
1. Lois Maffeo and I will eat tamales with her
2. My sisters who are quite far away
3. Oscar Soule, my college botany teacher who just dropped off raspberry jam
4. Amber Bell because she would then pass it on for me to everyone in Portland
5. My Mailman Craig who I repeated his name all day to remember it.
6. Marena at the Farmers Market who sells me bread every week and I put it in my basket that her Father made
7. Tina Herschelman and hopefully she is wearing cashmere
8. Aaron Tuller at Buyolympia because he’s not a hugger either
9. My Mother because she’s my Mother
10. Doctors and Nurses and Teachers and Grocers and Delivery Drivers. I think I heard another van pull up at my neighbor’s. I will hug my neighbor too and we will dance in the street.
Selfie by SM; Shirt: Boredwalk. Hat: Bailey of Hollywood. Specs: Schnuchel
Stephin Merritt
Ten records I’ve been listening to obsessively this year, in descending order of repeats:
6 Women I’d Like to Personally Thank (I Was Trying for 10, but I Am Nearing Deadline)
Marcy Mays I’d like to thank you for your cowboy boots and for always being full-on ready to rock. Scrawl Forever!
Heather Lewis Thank you for coming up with my favorite drumbeat. Interested listeners may refer to “Midnight A Go Go” by Beat Happening to hear it.
Sara Lund The best drummers in the world have an idiosyncratic system of timing. Is it in their head, their hands or their feet? Wherever it stems from, Sara Lund’s drumming in Unwound not only withstood the art-damaged time signatures of Justin Trosper and Vern Rumsey—she elevated it. 100% fucking genius musician.
Stella Marrs Since we’re on the subject of drummers, has any performance more radically changed my views on and understanding of performance than Stella playing a snare drum with hands holding stiletto pumps? Her voluminous influence on visual and graphic art is well known, but she also resides in my life as a continual handmaiden to my blown mind.
Kathleen In 1984, I lived in Portland, Oregon, and walked across downtown to Satyricon once a week for a poetry night organized by Walt Curtis (who was inspiration for the older protagonist of Gus Van Sant’s Mala Noche.) It was more or less an open mic in which self-serious poets from Reed College would recite their verse and aging gay men would yell at them. (“You are an abortion!” was a favorite taunt I heard there.) One consistent feature of this weekly event was the pre-intermission arrival to the stage of a late-middle-aged woman named Kathleen, who would sing (a capella) the 1961 hit “Norman” and then return to her seat next to her ever-changing (yet gentlemanly) elderly date. Each of the 7 or 8 times I heard her sing it, it was so pure. And never once was it not entirely cheered on and welcomed by the otherwise vicious crowd. She is unforgettable to me and I wish I’d had the good fortune to get to know her.
Gilmore Tamny A friend had a copy of Wiglet in his apartment and I picked it up to scan the contents, thinking it was a music zine. In it, there was a cartoon about having a job where you had to drive around all over the place and knock on people’s doors. But the panels ended before the actual job was named. So I wrote a letter to the zine address in Columbus, Ohio, and asked if the job had been delivering flowers or pizzas. I received a note in return that said, “I was a process server.” That brief letter of reply (in 1985?) brought Gilmore Tamny into my life and from then on she has been a total heroine to me. Who else can make a shitty job into a thrilling zine cliff-hanger? Who else can convince me to go on a 1-show tour, in order to drive to Columbus, OH and play at an All Girl All Star Hoedown? (With Scrawl! See above!) And who has combined metal chops and chutzpah in bands the Yips, Weather Weapon and in her side gig as a spokesmodel for the Mystery? And who follows their idle thoughts of, “Hmmm…maybe it would be interesting to become an expert in art theft and forgery?” into REALITY??? Musician, artist, novelist, poet, promoter and Bostonian Gilmore Tamny, that’s who. All hail.
Thank you, brilliant women.
Photograph by Meredith Heuer
Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket)
Books of Poetry I found especially useful this year:
Gwendolyn Brooks – Blacks
Anslem Hollo – Sojourner Microcosms
Robert Fernandez – Scarecrow
Samuel Amadon – Listener
Louis MacNeice – Autumn Journal
Caroline Bird – The Hat Stand Union
Ada Limon – The Carrying
Atsuro Riley – Romey’s Order
Elizabeth Bishop – Questions of Travel
whoever wrote Gilgamesh – Gilgamesh
Rachel Blumberg and Jeffrey Underhill (artists, musicians)
Top ten favorite foods we made in 2020 that gave us some slivers of happiness.
1. enchilada lasagna
2. cullen skink
3. bacalao gommes
4. vegetable shepherds pie
5. kedgeree
6. grilled scallops
7. pan con tomate with garden tomatoes
8. sourdough discard biscuits with fig jam
9. eggplant parmesan
10. gingerbread pancakes
Gilmore (left); Weather Weapon photo by Sasha Pedro
Gilmore Tamny (Weather Weapon)
10 Things That Happened, I Noticed, Were Important to Me, or Were Merely Novel
This list does not include my shock, horror, and despair of the wider world. Take that as writ.
1. passed a dear friend on the street without recognizing her due to masks and fogged-up glasses
2. drew chinchilla plotting to destroy a Chihuly
3. thought New England spring 2020 tulip game absolutely outstanding
4. discovered the way I express love to my petfriend is to continually fret about their wellbeing and contentment, and the way I experience work anxiety is a tiny tasered sensation everytime I hear that arriving email bingbong
6. started a taut psychological thriller
7. took a class on Sea Monsters
8. thought about hypocrisy all the time—mine, yours, the world
9. FOOD: a) tried to bring iceberg lettuce back into my life b) bought a croissant crust frozen pizza, made a big deal about it, thought about doing a Zoom roundtable where we try/discuss en masse, but it still lays in my freezer withering c) discovered there is no room at the adjective inn for Snickerdoodle-flavored popcorn
10. had a fling with nonfiction: The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: The Amazing Story of How America Lost Its Mind Over a Plush Toy—and the Eccentric Genius Behind It, My Friend Anna, and Children of Ash and Elm. All highly recommend (not necessarily pub this year BTW).
Oed Ronne (The Ocean Blue)
Top Ten Episodes of The Rockford Files
1. The Farnsworth Stratagem
2. Quickie Nirvana
3. In Pursuit of Carol Thorne
4. The Girl in the Bay City Boys Club
5. The Mayor’s Committee from Deer Lick Falls
6. The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit
7. The Becker Connection
8. Requiem for a Funny Box
9. Dwarf in a Helium Hat
10. If the French Heel is Back, Can the Nehru Jacket Be Far Behind?
Portland photo by Gail O
Chickfactor editor in chief Gail O’Hara
Top Ten Things I Miss About Portland
1. Eating! Especially at Back to Eden Café (RIP), Harlow, Kati Thai, Luc Lac, Maruti, the Sudra, Supernova, Cedo’s, Eb & Bean, Tarai Thai, Modern Times, including delicious big bowls at Bye & Bye and Sweet Hereafter, the best falafel and hummus and pickled veggies in the entire world at Cedo’s, the vegan pizza at Red Sauce, Pizza Jerk and Virtuous Pie, the hummus at Aviv, the breakfast, reubens and burgers from Off the Griddle, oh so many things! I’ve probably already lost a stone by being gone (not really). I wish I could order takeout of everything and have it delivered. Vegan heaven. Comfort food capital of the world.
2. Playing indoor futbol with my team The Crusty Punks. They are the best! After 9 months of not playing, I feel sad and less powerful.
3. Chanting my head off at Portland Thorns games (also so sad that I won’t be seeing Crystal Dunn play a bunch of home games; also sad that Tobin Heath is technically no longer a Thorn; I will miss seeing Christine Sinclair and Lindsey Horan play a ton) I am starting a covert Rose City Riveters supporters group in my current home town if anyone wants to join. #BAONPDX
4. Screaming like a banshee and jumping up and down and swinging my scarf at Portland Timbers games; I never truly understood the meaning of sports until I became a fan of this team in 2011. My love for them; their love for the fans; the love affair between the Timbers Army and the players, so pure, so magical. The Magic Is Real. #RCTID
5. Karaoke!! Especially at Voicebox with like 8 of my friends. My standards: “99 Red Balloons,” “Buffalo Stance,” and I miss the group scream-along to any B-52s tune.
6. Beulahland: my footie-watching local, where I wasn’t crazy about the food but I dug the atmosphere, the people, the vending machine and the left-wing history. (sings) “Where everybody knows your name…”
7. Toffee Club! It was such a fun place to watch women’s futbol, like the Thorns and the USWNT, plus the cider selection and the people were so great. We all used to DJ there a few years ago. I guess I miss living in SCUSA (Soccer City USA): ya think?
8. Walking in parks with friends! Especially in Laurelhurst and Mt Tabor, the general overwhelming blossoming fertile bucolic pastoral beauty of the Pacific NW, the elephants and seals at the zoo, and the Japanese Garden and International Rose Test Garden. So much beauty.
9. Venues! There were three venues that I treasured the most: Doug Fir, which is ideal in terms of size, sightlines, coziness, sound, and everything. It’s underground and looks like a softly furnished log cabin. Mississippi Studios, which is just a wonderful space in every way, though I never was able to set up shows at either sadly. And of course Bunk Bar, which is the greatest in terms of working with them on events, they feed the bands fancy tater tots and big sandwiches, they pay artists properly and are easy to work with. The shows we did set up there were epic.
10. Record stores! Bookshops! Powell’s. Old movie theaters! Dive bars. Bridges and rivers.
11. My friends! Their dogs! Their yards. Their support and company and conversation. Still can’t quite accept that I’m not going back. (I know I’ll fall in love with my new home but I feel like life is in limbo so…)
Photograph of Jen by Gail O’Hara
Jen Sbragia (The Softies, All Girl Summer Fun Band, chickfactor designer)
1. Feeding and viewing hummingbirds on my porch 2. Walking through deep puddles in old rainboots that I have mended with goo I bought from the internet 3. Listening to podcasts about crimes and/or terrifying stories and then podcasts about self-help and mindfulness whilst cooking. 4. Coffee 5. Avoiding sugar long enough that a consuming a small chunk of dark chocolate feels like snorting a line of something 6. Fashion Plates and colored pencils 7. Potatoes in all forms 8. Snuggling with calm children 9. Not putting on jeans for almost a year and also witnessing the death of the skinny jeans trend and being like, “cool… bye” 10. Porch dates
Photograph of Sukhdev by Gail O’Hara
Sukhdev Sandhu
What I did in 2020
Switched off the news.
Followed Peter Terzian on Instagram as he shared and contemplated photographs of himself. One a year up until the present. (He’s a very handsome 52.)
Wiggled around in the kitchen while listening to Jarvis Cocker’s Saturday-night Domestic Disco DJ sets in the spring.
Caught up with The World At War. All 26 episodes and 47 years after it was made.
Cheered on Sander Bos and Esther Perbandt in the first series of Making The Cut. Mittel-European fashion designers really do trump American ones.
Went to Germany, embraced lido culture, and took up cycling.
Missed drinking through the night with strangers at Milano’s on New York’s East Houston Street.
Bought lots of records from Monorail in Glasgow and Discreet (a.k.a. ‘New Sounds of Swedish Underground’) in Gothenburg.
Listened to Mikey Kirkpatrick’s daily live flute improvisations on Wild Lakes Radio.
Wandered through forests looking for deer and pondering the past and the future.
Watched lots of ski jumping and took up sledding.
Sent Christmas cards for the first time in three decades.
Dawn Sutter Madell (Agoraphone)
I found it hard to concentrate on much besides music, but here is a top 10 list of things that distracted me from 2020
1. ancestry deep dives 2. schitt’s creek (which I had never watched) 3. true crime (podcasts, doc-series) 4. gardening for myself 5. gardening for others 6. freaks and geeks re-watch 7. running 8. Cassi Namoda art 9. His Dark Materials (the show) 10. cbd
Photograph of Jeffrey by Gail O’Hara
Jeffrey HoneyBunch
13 Highlights in a Low-Life Year
1 Gonsalves Portuguese Seasoning (an indispensable part of our pantry) 2 Open E Tuning (courtesy of Johnny Marr’s “Headmaster Ritual” guitar tutorial on YouTube. Now I use it on everything, just like the Portuguese seasoning) 3 Arch Cape, Oregon 4 Kamala Harris 5 John was Trying to Contact Aliens doc. on Netflix 6 Anarchist Jurisdictions (There were no delays getting our Holiday packages either to or from Portland—go figure.) 7 Michael Galinsky’s photo archives 8 KMUN Coast Community Radio, Astoria, Oregon (especially the rockin’ Backbeat program, and the ship report) 9 Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983–1987 compilation (Captured Tracks) 10 City of Dreams: a tasty unfiltered/citrusy pale ale from Ft. George Brewery in Astoria, OR. 11 Takeout Cocktails: an idea whose time has come, and hopefully outlasts the pandemic. 12 O & H Bakery’s Almond Kringle: Maybe the sweetest thing to ever come out of Racine, WI 13 Cawston Press’s Rhubarb soda (hard to pick a favorite flavor—their Elderflower Lemonade is also right up there.)
Evelyn (left). Photograph courtesy of Cotton Candy
Evelyn Hurley (Cotton Candy)
Top 10 walks & bike rides I made in 2020
#10- The walk from my house to Central Square, Cambridge. A utilitarian walk usually made to complete chores.
#9- The walk from my house to Whole Foods on Beacon St., Somerville. The sidewalks are usually really crowded, and there seems to be a lot of pedestrians who don’t know how to socially distance and also share the sidewalk, and the intersection at Inman Square is kind of annoying. But other than that, it gets me where I need to go pretty quickly.
#8- The bike ride from my house to my office. Thankfully there wasn’t as much traffic as usual, and it’s not a relaxing or easy bike ride, but it was nice to be back in the office even if it was only for one day a week.
#7- The walk from my office to the library stacks. I used to think it was ordinary, now I find it exhilarating!
#6- The walk from my office to Trader Joe’s and the Trillium beer garden. I always come back to work with delicious goodies in my bags!
#5- The walk along the beach in South Boston with my friend Viktoria and her adorable dog.
#4- The walk up Buffalo or Seneca Street in Ithaca, NY. It’s a brutal hike up this street, but you get your entire workout ring closed and it’s a thrill to successfully achieve the hike!
#3- The walk from my house to the Cambridge Brewing Company, two blocks away.
#2- The bike ride from the Provincetown Ferry to Race Point Beach, Cape Cod. I only did it once this summer, but it was hard and totally rewarding.
#1- The daily walk I took from my house over the Longfellow Bridge and back. I’d head out after WFH was done, or I’d finished making dinner, this jaunt was my daily dose of sanity. I’d listen to books on tape, podcasts like “Rock and Roll Film Club,” new music, Folklore” from TS was in heavy rotation, or I’d talk to friends on the phone. I have far too many pictures of the sunsets, which were often technicolor and always gave me hope.
Hope 2021 is good for everyone and we are all healthy and safe.
