2020 albums

 2020

It’s been many years since I have written a music blog.  

I’ve decided to wrap 2020 into one large blog of a collection of personal favorites,  others picks whom are either widely recognized (Rolling Stone & NPR, among others), and people I tend to fall in line with on music taste (Largehearted Boy).  

In similar fashion to my previous posts, I have created a sort of playlist of songs I have chosen from albums released in 2020.  As noted below, I’ve also included EPs.   

Reaching far out, I have included some I am not necessarily an immediate fan of.  There were a handful of moments I was struggling to find ONE song I liked off an album.  However, I can stand by this playlist and would listen to it in full.   

Some notes I would like to add:  I can feel the American pandemic experience in some of these songs.  Our year was such a whirlwind.  The beating drum of not backing down is prevalent.  Music is such a powerful gift, such a tangible vaccine to the emotional pandemic Americans faced this year. I feel I owe it to music to write this love letter of a blog.  Music gives me my theme of the day, it gives me my own carpool karaoke, it takes a walk with me and my Beats headphones, and it connects us even when we are not physically together.   

Since this is a rather long playlist, I’ve categorized the picks in groups based on my connection with the artist.  Lastly, I would normally add tour dates to my blurbs but you know, Covid.  

Enjoy!

2020 Albums Released:

Personal Fav Artists from the last several years:

"One More Try" from Perfume Genius's 5th album Set My Heat on Fire Immediately

Michael Hadreas is a stunning work of art.  I saw him on 7/16/17 at the Revolution Hall in Portland Oregon.  I had no idea what concert I was going to.  Suddenly this beautiful being in red lipstick, high heels, pinstripe pants folded up like a pirate boot, and a white tank took over the stage with his heart piercing voice with “Otherside”.   My jaw dropped and I never got control of myself through the rest of the show.  The building could have caught on fire, yet I would have only had eyes for Perfume Genius.  Sadly I was supposed to see him over the summer 2020 (with Tame Impala) but the show was canceled.   As for the pick “One More Try”, I’m on the edge of my seat listening his quivering voice sing about why he hid his love.  Tears. 

"Los Angeles" from Haim's 3rd album Women in Music Pt III

When Haim came onto the music scene in 2013, I needed them badly.  I’m pleased to see them take their time and soak their success of their first album.  I chose “Los Angeles” due to the lyrics of talking about needing to be home, about losing faith, about not wanting to be in cold New York (the best city in the world).  The saxophone so towards the end of the song is such a bonus.  Thank you Haim sisters!  You can hear amazing women artists influences in this album.  But the sisters make it their own with their vocal harmonies and originality in their song writing. 

"Lost in Yesterday" from Tame Impala's 4th album The Slow Rush 

Australian neo-psychedelia bank Tame Impala birthed the same year as my blog! 2007.  What I love about Tame Impala (Kevin Parker) is he doesn't skimp on the length of the songs on this album.  You can loose yourself listening to each track, great driving music.  Indeed a "slow rush".  I'm not sure how many times I Shazamed "Lost in Yesterday" in 2020 just so I could have it readily available to jam to. 

"Baby" from Four Tet's 10th album Sixteen Oceans   

Brit Kieran Hebden is the mastermind behind Four Tet.  If you're considered an essential "folktronica" artist, you know you've made it.  They are like combining Disney's Electrical Parade with space jazz Sun Ra. And if that doesn't send you rushing to listen to Four Tet, I can't help you.  

"Let's Start Again" from Frazey Ford's third album U kin B the Sun

Canadian Frazey Ford is an original member of The Be Good Tanyas, whose track The Littles Birds has worn through from being played on repeat in my head.  When Frazey Ford recorded solo I was nervous because I love the harmonious vocals from the Tanyas.  Quickly I was schooled by the amazing soul of her voice on her own.  U kin B the Sun will be an album I will listen to often and for years to come.  

“Holding to the Edge of Night” from Samantha Crain’s album A Small Death

Oklahoman Samantha Crain wrote this album after surviving three major car accidents.   I can feel her pain and endurance in "Holding to the Edge of Night", well throughout the entire album.  Her folk rock voice in High Horse sends me to a visual of a sky full of stars and the air full of fireflies.  This is another album I don't want to forget about in the near future.  

“I’m Not My Season” from Fleet Foxes’ fourth album Shore

The sounds of waves and seagulls between songs is a brilliant move to bring you to Shore with Fleet Foxes.  The lyrics threw me, "If we ride a winter long wind, well time's not what I belong to".  Exactly. I'm not the season I'm in. This is definitely one of those albums you listen to from beginning to end without skipping through a track.  I love where "Quiet Air" takes me, I'm a sucker for piano rolling waves.  

“Everything Else Has Gone Wrong” from Bombay Bicycle Club’s 5th album  Everything Else Has Gone Wrong

Ironically this Brit band released this album on 1/17/2020.  Little did they know shit was really going to blow up.  Literally everything has gone wrong in the world.  I think everyone needs to find their peace again and their second wind, as lead singer Jack boasts over and over. 

“America” from Sufjan Stevens’ 8th album The Ascension

A Detroit native, this indie rocker transcends his listeners with his smooth electronica ways. There's less banjo and more layers of synthesizer sounds in this latest album of Sufjan's.  Ascension fits with the cold, non-organic, rollercoaster of a year of 2020.  Take a nice 80 minute walk in the cold brisk air to this album and you will have a lovely companion to feed off your winter blues. The 12 minute pick America will have you reeling. 

“Count on Me” from The Lone Bellow’s 4thalbum Half Moon Light

Another future seer, this album came out February 7, 2020.  You know, before the world turned upside down.  This ballad of poignant lyrics catches me right from the get-go.  The drum intro gives me the auto nod to the beat.  "Let it break you. Let it help you lay down what you held onto. Let it break you. You can count on me, I can count on you".   It's the song that plays in my brain when I think of my friends and family who I can't see during the pandemic but still want them to know I am here for them. I don't really care if that is cheesy as fuck. Truth, man. Truth.  I've been a fan of The Lone Bellow since the broke out in 2013 Since then I always keep my eye out for these Brooklynites music. 

“Looking for you” from Nada Surf’s 9th album Never Not Together

This early 90''s band keeps on going with this latest album, managing to keep up with the morphing music creates with time.  New York's Nada Surf is a band I always think I know and then I realize I reintroduce them to myself every few years.  I wrote about them in my January 30 2012 blog music entry and I should really get my shit together.  

“Home” from Caribou’s 5th album Suddenly

Canadian Daniel Snaith performs under three monikers: Caribou, Manitoba, and Daphni.  As Caribou, he has had the most recognition and is the one I'm most familiar with.  I found a blog draft I never posted in 2010 about Caribou's Swim.  Inspired me to post all blogs, complete or not.  This song was released way before the 2020 pandemic, but is exactly where I stayed all year long: Home.   Side note, I really dig the track "Lime" as well.  

"valentines day" from MisterWives 3rd album SUPERBLOOM

I had the pleasure of seeing this amazing New York band in 2015 at the MusicFestNW in Portland, OR.  Valentines Day is such a haunting track that pulls me out of my own head-mess and feel the heartbreak of the story.  Don't worry, the other tracks like "The End" and "WhyWhyWhy" don't feel like such a rainy day as said Valentines... Who wouldn't want to hear more after their 2015 hit "Reflections"?    I am not disappointed.  

On several “best of” lists this year that I had already heard prior to my investigations for this blog:

"Savage Remix (feat. Beyonce)" from Megan Thee Stallion's debut album Good News

I watched Texan Megan Thee Stallion sing “Savage” on SNL this Fall and wanted more.  I’m not impressed with her WAP song, but this mega hit remix with Beyoncé is the badass mantra a woman can listen to while walking solo down the street.  

"Break My Heart" from Dua Lipa's 2nd album Future Nostalgia

“It is what it is (feat. Pedro Martin)" from Thundercat’s 4th album It is what it is

"St Cloud" from Waxahatchee's 5th album Saint Cloud

"Si Veo a Tu Mama" from Bad Bunny's album YHLQMDLG

"Garden Song" from Phoebe Bridgers album Punisher

"Dynamite" from BTS's album Be

“Spotlight” from Jessie Ware’s album What's Your Pleasure

Never heard of these Winners: 

“Blinking Light” from Half Waif’s album Ordinary Talk

“Circling” from Porridge Radio’s album Every Bad

“Hannah Sun” from Lomelda’s album Hannah

“The Quiver to the Bomb” from U.S. Girls’ album Heavy Light

“Impossible Weight (feat. Sharon Van Etten)” from Deep Sea Diver’s album Impossible Weight

“Ladies for Babies (Goats for Love) from Nadine Shah’s album Kitchen Sink

“Til a Mermaid Drags You Under” from Mary Lattimore’s album Silver Ladders

"Further away" from beabadoobee's album Fake it Flowers

"Yellow is the Color of Her Eyes" from Soccer Mommy's album Color Theory 

"Flagey God" from Bartees Strange's album Life Forever

“Take it With You When You Go” from Kathleen Edwards’ album Total Freedom

"The Recuerdos" from The Mavericks' album En Espanol

"STFU" from Rina Sawayama's album Sawayama 

"NTE" from Buscabulla's album Regressa

"Son Shine" from Sault's album Untiled (Black is)

"Love Her" from Kate Pruitt's album Expectations

"Melt!" from Kelly Lee Owens album Inner Song

"Del Mar (feat. Doja Cat & Sia)" from Ozuna's album Enoc

"ooh la la" (feat. Greg Nice & DJ Premier) from Run the Jewels's album RTJ4

"Sins of the Father" from Waylon Payne's Album Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher, and Me

"Utakata" from The Microphones album Microphones in 2020 

"Together Is A Beautiful Place To Be" from Nubya Garcia's album Source

"Nada" from Lido Pimienta's album Miss Columbia

"Marafon 15" from Kate NV's album Room for the Moon

"4/EM" from Grimes's album Miss Anthropocene

"The Wind, She Whispers" from Tall Tall Trees' album A Wave of Golden Things

"Automatic Driver" from La Roux's album Supervision

"Cut Me" from Moses Sumney's album græ

The MTV Music Awards:

“Plastic Hearts” from Miley Cyrus’ album Plastic Hearts

"exile (feat. Bon Iver)" from Taylor Swift's album Folklore

"My Hair" from Ariana Grande's album Positions

"Sine from Above (feat. Elton John)" from Lady Gaga's album Chromatica

"Alanis' Interlude (feat Alanis Morrisette)" from Halsey's album Manic

"Heartless" from The Weeknd - After Hours

"Julianna Calm Down" from The Chicks album Gaslighter

One should always download at least part of the album if not all the following artists music released:

"I'm a Fool to Want You" from M. Ward's album Think of Spring

"Damsel in Distress" from Rufus Wainwright's album Unfollow the Rules

"Lightning Fields (feat. k.d. lang)" from The Killers' album Imploding the Mirage

"Under the Table" from Fiona Apple's album  Fetch the Bolt Colters

"ACC Kirtan" from Stephen Malkmus' album Traditional Techniques

"House Music All Night Long" from Jarvis Cocker & Jarv IS' album Beyond the Pale

"Wild (feat. Gary Clark Jr.)" from John Legend's album Bigger Love

"Man Without a Soul" from Lucinda Williams' album Good Souls Better Angels

"Fortune" from Laura Marling - Song for Our Daughter

"Power is Taken" from Moby's album All Visible Objects

"Murphy's Law" from Roisin Murphy's album Roisin Machine

"Heartbroken, Day After" from Norah Jones' album Pick Me Up Off the Floor

The Heavy Hitters:

"Quick Escape" from Pearl Jam's album Gigaton

"Shot in the Dark" from AC/DC's album Power up

"My Own Version of You" from Bob Dylan's album Rough and Rowdy Ways

“Ghosts” from Bruce Springsteen’s album Letter to You

“Missing the Miracle” from Alanis Morissette’s album Such Pretty Forks in the Road

EP's:

"Stop Breaking Down" from The Rolling Stone's EP Turning Blue and Lonesome

"Scarlet (feat. Jimmy Page)" fromThe Rolling Stone's EP Rainbow

"Piggy Knows" from Animal Collective's EP Bridge to Quiet

"If We Make it Through December" from Phoebe Bridgers EP If We Make it Through December

"Are you listening?" from twst's EP TWST0001 - EP

"Deep End" from Holly Humberstone's EP Falling Asleep at the Wheel

"Oblivion" from Alaska Reid's EP Big Bunny

"La vita nuova (feat. Caroline Polachek)" from Christine and the Queen's EP La vita nuova

Singles:

“Bang!” by AJR

“My Future” by Billie Eilish

The day the Music died on Tuesdays

New Music Tuesday
I'm late to the party.  However it has NOT gone unnoticed that music is not released on Tuesdays anymore. 
This changed happened in July 2015. 

I haven't been consistent in writing my new music blog since 2013.  Circumstances and life changes halted my music game.

The passion is still there, the concert attendance has not receded, and the excuses are plentiful.

So... now were are starting down the journey towards... New Music Fridays! 
Just doesn't have the same ring to it.  How dull. What to celebrate on Tuesdays now? 

TGIF!  Which in this blogger world means This Girl Is Fabulous.  My new music Friday fun. 

Enjoy.

New Music Tuesday 2019 Announcements

2019 to look forward to (ish)

01/17/19 Christina Perri  "Songs for Carmella: Lullabies & Sing-a-longs"    *she was amazing in concert in 2014

01/18/19 Ronnie Milsap  "Ronnie Milsap: The Duets"     *Take this job and shove it.

01/25/19 Backstreet Boys  "DNA"    *they were right.  Backstreets back, alright.

01/25/19 Meghan Trainor "Treat Myself"     *shes more than a one hit wonder, folks?

02/01/19 Broods "Don't Feed the Pop Monster"    *Don't let their name fool you.
02/01/19 White Lies "Five"  *Absolutely let their name fool you
02/14/19 Trisha Yearwood "Let's be Frank"   *Sinatra covers of love songs? Just a guess #ValentinesDay
02/14/19 Avril Lavigne "Head above Water"   *no Avril, go ahead and not
03/01/19 Weezer  "Weezer"   *clever
03/08/19 David Gray "Gold in a Brass Age"     *v. interested in new David!
03/08/19 Dido "Still on my mind"     *get to see Dido this year.  Excited for new Dido!
03/29/19 Lana Del Rey "Norman Fucking Rockwell"     *fuck yes.

April  Rammstein TBA      *totes forgot about this band
May The 1975 "Notes on a Conditional Form"     *totes don't know this band very well

Unscheduled
Adele
Coldplay
Hootie & the Blowfish   *wait, they are still making music together?  YES!
Madonna
Magadeth
Magda Davitt "No Mud No Lotus"  *do you know who this is???!!! GOGGLE her.
The Raconteurs   *wait, they are still making music together?  YES!
Rob Zombie 
Sheryl Crow
Skid Row
Tame Impala 
Tim McGraw
Tora Tora
Whitesnake "Flesh & Blood"

2015 UP AND COMING

HAPPY NEW YEAR!      ENJOY.

I have to say the last quarter of 2014 brought me some sweet music. 
Glass Animals, James Blake, Father John Misty, George Ezra, Marian Hill, AURORA, Bastille, Ellie Goulding, KONGOS, alt-J, BORNS, Vance Joy,  Elle King,  Ella Henderson,  Brandi Carlile,  Avicii, Spirit Animal, Jack Garratt, D'Angelo, Noah Gunderson, Royal Tongues, Eric Hassle, RY X,  Angel Olsen, Royal Wood, Roo Panes, Grandaddy/Band of Horses, Madeon, We are the Brave,  Mat Kearney, Mark Ronson, and Hannah Lou Clark.   

Got me excited for starting up the blog again.   Looking forward to the following albums this year 2015:

Meghan Trainor    Title

Mark Ronson    Uptown Special

Diana Krall  Wallflower                  

Imagine Dragons   Smoke + Mirrors

Laura Marling   Short Movie

Bob Dylan   Shadows in the Night

Emeli Sandé   Who Needs The World

Limp Bizkit   Stampede of the Disco Elephants    

The Wombats   Glitterbug

Of Montreal    Aureate Gloom

Kid Cudi  Man on the Moon III

 
Rumor has it the following are releasing albums this year:

Rita Ora,   Def Leppard, Bad Religion, Bjork, Black Sabbath, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Duran Duran, Ellie Goulding, Fleetwood Mac, Guns N' Roses, Muse, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Slayer.

New Music Tuesday April 23rd 2013

I have so many excuses as to why I haven't continued with my music blog.  Truth is I have continued, but haven't posted.  I have been journaling and will upload it as quick as I can type "Bob's your uncle".

This particular week has a few personal favorites of mine.  Mainly Tom Jones.  But Steve Martin? Michael Buble? and what about Paula Cole?  oh shut up. Enjoy.

Tower of Song from Tom Jones millionth (ok #40) album Spirit in the Room
Mr Blue Eyed Soul, proved that winning best new artist at the Grammy's is NOT a voodoo award.  He may be an unusual pussycat, but one that lives on Aubrey Lane in Laurel Canyon.  That is right.  How does one find such information out?  Why buy Tom Jones a drink of course. (Hennessy).  Please give Mr. Jones a chance - his new album is full of blues and Tom Waits.  What a better match than Waits and Jones? What?

You're no good from Major Lazer's LP Free the Universe
All I can say is please listen.   They are a reggae/electronic band that likes to sing about bubble butts.  Ok well not so mature but I am really diggin the track I picked (hence I picked it).

Killing Moon from Ian McCulloch's album Holy Ghosts
From the UK, my punkster of the Echo and the Bunnymen has worked with a such a variety of people (you know, Spice Girls, Bowie...) .  He got his start in 1977 and to be honest I am not a huge punk fan.  I'm afraid this feeling is carrying through this review.  If you are looking for a typical was head of a rock band going solo but sounds like he never left the band or the era (1977), please click here [ _ ].

Why don't you go from Paula Cole's 6th album Raven
Paula.  I love your album art work.  It seems to me the better the art work, the worse the music.  Yes, I just typed that.

New Music Tuesday January 14th 2014!

Chalk full of talent being the second week of the year.   We have a band that sounds like they come from  an era older than the daughter of a country legend.  Sprinkle in a little UK indie rock per usual, an Irish folk singer,  a late 80's country rocker, an American icon, and one local little lady that stands on her own in genre, style, and fucking amazing talent and you get the collection that makes up my review for this week.   Enjoy.

"Get up and Get out" from Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings 5th album Give the people what they want

Emerging from Brooklyn in '96, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings have rotated band members and ban labels but Sharon and the funk have remained constant.  Immediately I knew I would love the band, simply by the name.  Getting down with your bad funk self doesn't happen with a lot of artists these days. You can see them April 1st at the Crystal Ballroom here in Portland.  I just might.


"Red Dust" from James Vincent McMorrow's 2nd album Post Tropical
This Irish folksinger started his career just a few years ago. I noticed that James released this 2nd album of his on his 30th birthday, as I did research on how long he's been on this earth and in the music biz.  "Early in the Morning", his first record released in 2010, brought him the honor recipient of the European Border Breakers Award.  Impressive.  What I love about James, he brings a little Irish funk with a John Legend seduction.  For me that isn't Post Tropical, that IS Tropical.

"Bear Song" from Emily Conway's DEBUT EP "Folktown"
Dearest Emily Conway from Oregon City,  I am thrilled and proud to say she is friend of mine.  Her brilliant mind and gregarious spirit seeps out in her song lyrics and ukulele playing.  Emily's jazzy voice and playful wink keeps one listening, hoping she never stops performing.   Congratulations Emily, on your debut to the rest of the world.  Your friends are finally ready to share your talents with the rest of the world.


"World of strange design" from Rosanne Cash's album The River and the Thread
If Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt had a baby, and said baby recorded an album, this would be it.  Surely you have guessed Ms Cash is the daughter of the Man in Black, and you would be right.  What I didn't know is she toured with Johnny after high school, and although her debut album was a success it never flew because she got pregnant and couldn't tour to promote the record.  Her work was acknowledged later in the music industry, and has done well for herself.  This is a beautiful soulful album, full of imagination and dreamwork.


"High Hopes" from Bruce Springsteen's 18th album High Hopes
Our American posterboy, everyone wants a piece of Bruce.  Appropriate title of an album, as we all have high hopes for a new album to be released by Mr. Springsteen.   I have never been drawn to his music per se,  but I do concur with the pedestal people have put him and his talents on.  if I had a choice of going to see Glen Campbell or Bruce Springsteen, I would choose Glen, and did.   All the while this album is a standard, the first track spoke to me the loudest.  Great introduction number for a collection of general classic rock songs.  I feel Bruce really broke out of his comfort zone with the title track, I am not sure I would have guessed it was him singing.  To me, this is always a plus -- keep the audience and fans on their toes!!!!


"Where time stands still" from Mary Chapin Carpenter's album Songs from the movie
From Jersey, Mary's country-folk singing career started out as a hobby in '87.  It wasn't until unemployment that she decided to pursue her musical flair as the real deal instead of a dab.  The following snippet is from Wikipedia's page on Mary's hit single "He think's he'll keep her":

Written by Carpenter and Don Schlitz, the fast-paced song follows a 36-year-old homemaker who leaves her husband, and was inspired by a 1970s series of Geritol commercials in which a man boasts of his wife's seemingly limitless energy and her many accomplishments, then concludes by saying, "My wife ... I think I'll keep her." Carpenter said, "That line has always stuck with me. It's just such a joke."  The single received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year.

Well who can argue with such a brilliant sense of humor and truth? Not me. Mary's album "Songs from the movie" brought a tear to my eye.  Beautiful poetic pieces of art that in fact do sound like they are from a movie scene.

New Music Tuesday, January 7th 2014!

Happy New Year, fellow music lovers.  Life got in the way of my blogging from April on in 2013.  My hope is to balance and post from now on.  Notes have been made for nearly every week I didn't post last year, and perhaps will get them drafted and uploaded for the websters to read.  But until that fantasy becomes a reality, here is the first entry for the year.

For anyone new reading,  my blog goes like this:  I review new music that has been released digitally or physically.  There isn't a genre I ignore,   and there isn't one particular site I get all my information off of.   I create a playlist of sorts, picking a track from the new album,  post the artist and album title, and then write a review of my own.  This is an activity I started in 2007 and do it completely for my own enjoyment.

An anemic week of new music to be released, as always the first of January is.   This isn't stopping me from forming my own opinions!  I am only reviewing 5 artists this week, but two are debuts.  How exciting. Enjoy.

"The Janitor Revealed" from Stephen Malkmus and the Jick's album "Wig out at Jagbags"
I saw a lot of press while scrolling the music interwebs and thought, oh must be someone to pay attention to.  One of the tracks on this local bands album is titled "Cinnamon and Lesbians". Perhaps it's the video, perhaps not, but what an unfortunate introduction to the band for me.  I needed time and space before listening to anything more they had to offer.  As it turns out, Stephen does have a voice, and it's always so unbearably obscure.  Also, indie-rock bands have a bad rap of being a wishy washy one sound band.  Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks do not fall under this trap, and I am forever grateful. Being that the Star Theater is usually inexpensive, I may have to support a local up and coming on March 15th.  Who's with me?  Anyone?

"Cheating" from John Newman's debut album "Tribute"
What an impressive and talented man, this John Newman.  Please read more about him per link.  I have a huge appreciation for those that write, direct, and design their process as well as can sing (and dance!).   There is something about coming across a new artist who has the kind of presence and energy like this pop star John here that makes me so thrilled I write this blog.





"Vagabond" from MisterWives debut EP "Refletions"
From NYC, this indie-pop band named MisterWives self proclaim to be of the Soul/Dance/Pop/Folk genre.  So am I.   While I couldn't stop moving while listening to this EP, I didn't fall immediately.   I found listening to the tracks collectively told me I would love to attend a live showing.  No tour on the horizon as of yet.


"Apres Moi" from Peter Gabriels's album "And I'll scratch yours"
UK's artrock genius known as Peter Gabriel has produced a followup album from 2010's  "Scratch my back".  Said album was other artists covering Peter's own songs, like David Bowie and Lou Reed. This album is Mr Gabriel recording the same artists songs.  To my surprise he included Regina Spektor, and a track I enjoy quite a bit.  My first take on Peter was "Ave Maria" (I can't find a sample online), and I was instantly haunted and in love.  His cover of Apres Moi brings me back to that original feeling.

"Time of your life" from Kid Ink's second album "My Own Lane"
American Rapper Kid Ink was smart in releasing this album during the dead of winter.  As you may have guessed, I am not a rap music lover.  But I can appreciate talent.  From what I can find the appreciation for, Kid Ink is at least smart (or his manager is) on finding a quiet week in music to inject some rage, intensity, and energy.   I must confess, no competition in your genre is a plus this week, Kid.